Family of the different kind
by avatarfanlin
Summary: Look, just read the first chapter and determine if you like it, because my summaries really don't do the story justice. please give this a chance.
1. Prologue

**this is a prologue to an idea i've been toying around with in my head where Kya and Lin adopt Kuvira. I was requested to do this as a one shot for my 'item found' story line, but a human being isn't an item. but alas, i came up with this. cuteness will ensue, but the next chapter will most likely be sad. Anyway, tell me what you think. read, review and enjoy**

* * *

"Lin, are you sure about this?"

"This isn't about me. It's about both of us moving forward as a couple."

"You're scared."

"Only because I don't know what this momentous moment could bring."

Kya took Lin's hand in her own, as they were lead by Su down a hallway to a nursery. "Well, this is it. I'll leave you two to it."

The two women took a breath before entering the light green room, where a white crib sat in the centre. Peering into the crib, they found a baby smiling up at them. Kya reached down and took the baby into her arms, wagging a finger in front of the child's face to make her giggle. "She's beautiful. Don't you think Lin?"

"Hmm? Yeah I guess. Kinda looks like a potato."

Kya let out a sigh at her girlfriend's tone. "Lin, we don't have to do this if you're not comfortable."

"That's the thing, if I don't cross that barrier now, then I never will."

"Would you like to hold her?"

Lin gave her a small nod and held out her hands to take the baby. "So I jus-"

"That's it, make sure her head is supported." The baby began to stir and fuss in the metalbender's arms. "You need to hold her like you want to. You are her protector and she needs to know that."

"Her protector, right." Channelling everything she had learnt in her time on the police force, where she had to hold a civilian close as she descended a building, where she had to use her body to protect a child from being burned by a roaring fire and the times she's helped children calm down when they were scared, she managed to calm the baby down. She let out a yawn before closing her eyes. "What's her name again?"

"Kuvira. Her parents abandoned her in their home. She's had a rough start to life but you and I are going to fix that. Su already has done a great job nursing her back to health."

"Yeah, she has. You know, this kid is actually pretty good looking, especially considering that she resembles a potato. She has a mole under her eye, just like you."

"Cool coincidence. They think she is going to be an earthbender."

Lin ran a hand lightly across Kuvira's chubby cheek, smiling when she made an effort to nestle closer into the warmth of her chest. "Welcome to our family, Kuvira Beifong. This is your mother, Kya and I am your, your dad, Lin."

Kya cocked an eyebrow and smirked at her girlfriend. "Dad?"

"Why not? Every baby girl deserves one."

The waterbender didn't miss the twitch of the earthbender's lips. "It's okay Lin. You are not your mother. You are giving our child the best chance at having a normal family and Kuvira will one day understand this."

"If you say so."

Kya took Kuvira back and put her into the crib. "I do say so." She pecked Lin on the cheek, and then began to walk towards the door. "Su's invited us to have lunch with her family, are you coming?"

"Of course."


	2. Chapter 1

**in the next chapter we will see how Lin fits into the 'father' role. Anyway, read, review and enjoy and if you have any pointers and would like to see something, let me know. happy to accommodate my readers wants.**

* * *

It was a stormy night on Air Temple Island. The grounds were completely devoid of acolytes as rain pelted down, with thunder and lightening playing in the skies above. Inside the main house, Lin sat on the lounge with Tenzin, rocking a four month old Kuvira back and forth, trying to keep her calm due to the loud noises, when her mother entered the room. "It's time."

The two adults stood and followed the former Chief of police into a candle lit bedroom, where Avatar Aang laid under the hue of healing water, courtesy of Katara. "There she is. There's my favourite grandchild." Using all his strength, Aang pushed himself up to lay against the headboard with the aid of Sokka. "Come to grandpa Aang." Lin put a wide-eyed Kuvira into his arms carefully. "Hello sweetie. You know, there are a lot of things that I regret doing in my lifetime, and I think the number one thing at the top of that list, is not being around to see you grow up. You have two wonderful parents who love you very much." He waved a finger in front of her face. smiling when she giggled and grasped it. "You are going to be so strong and I know you will be an amazing bender."

Aang quickly motioned for Lin to take the baby as a coughing fit soon racked his body. "Katara, Katara stop. Please. It's time for me to go."

Katara didn't listen to him as she continued to heal something that couldn't be healed, age. He took hold of her hands, putting a stop to the healing. "Sweetie, we've talked about this. You're ready and so am I. I've said my individual goodbyes to each and every one of you, just know I meant what I said. I love you all." The old Avatar's body began to stiffen as the life inside left him. Kya stumbled to the side of the bed and began to desperately heal her dying father, even as a yellow light left him, indicating the passing of the Avatar.

"Kya."

"No Lin, he's going to be okay, he's not gone yet."

Lin let out a sigh as she passed Kuvira off to one of the acolytes in the room. "Take her into the lounge please." The earthbender knelt down next to the waterbender, to see silent tears streaming down her face as she tried desperately to heal a dead man. "Kya, stop, please." Kya chose to ignore her to the point that Lin had to wrap her arms around her and drag her kicking and screaming away from the body.

"Let me go! I can help him!"

"No, you can't." Lin held her tight as she hammered away at her chest in anger and sadness. "I've got you, it's going to be okay. We will get through this."

* * *

Air Temple Island was grieving for the loss of the Avatar and the second to last airbender. Amongst them was his family. They all had their own ways of dealing with grief. For Tenzin it was meditating, Katara, waterbending, Bumi loved to crack jokes in hopes of lifting everyone's spirits, but Kya got through her pain using unconventional methods. Sex. With her girlfriend Lin Beifong to be precise.

As the waterbender lay in the earthbender's arms, watching the rain fall outside the window while they came down from their high five minutes ago, she found herself sighing. "I still can't believe he's gone."

"Kya, as much as I love you, we have already had sex five times so it's going to take me a while to get my breath back."

Kya rolled over and playfully slapped Lin on the chest. "I don't want to have sex again. I'm fine being held. I was just watching the rain fall and thought how much I love the rain. It makes the world seem calm and peaceful. No one is outside. They are all inside drinking hot chocolate while in the arms of their loved ones. It's tranquil."

"You're right. I never feel quite at peace unless I'm swinging through the air and it's raining. It's peaceful above the streets. Especially when I know I'm coming home to you and Kuvira."

Kya smiled for the first time in twenty-four hours and pushed herself out of bed. "Speaking of which, it's been two hours since she's been fed."

Lin sat up in bed and allowed the sheet to fall to her waist as she watched her very naked girlfriend enter the adjoining room that their daughter was sleeping in. Not a moment later, and she was wheeling in the crib, which contained a sleepy four-month-old Kuvira. "Hello sweetheart. Did you sleep at all last night with all that thunder?" The little baby let out a small yawn. "I guess not."

The moment was interrupted when the bedroom door was pushed open to reveal an acolyte. "Excuse me Ch-" The acolyte froze at the sight. Not in a million years did she think her eyes would see her previous leader's daughter in this light, much less a very muscular Chief of police.

"Lin, I think your abs broke her."

"You don't think my bare chest did?"

"Well she's staring at your stomach so I'd say no."

Lin shook her head in annoyance. "Either say what you came to say or back up and leave."

"I, umm, Captain Saikhan is on the phone for you."

"Good. Now turn around and close the door with yourself on the other side." The acolyte did as she was asked, allowing for Lin to get out of bed. When her feet made contact with the floor, she allowed herself to smirk. "I'm going to kill that old hag."

* * *

Lin walked into the kitchen, where the only phone on the entire island was located. "Beifong."

" _Chief,_ " Came her captain's voice on the other end, " _I have been receiving phone calls all morning asking why the ferries to Air Temple Island aren't running, to the point that there are now press trying to gain access by any means necessary to the island._ "

Lin let out a growl. She always hated the press. They always thought themselves above others when it came to getting information. "Air Temple Island is currently closed. A statement will be issued tomorrow but at this point in time I want you to make sure no one gets on this island. Is that understood?"

" _Yes Chief. Lin_ ," He only used her first name when they were speaking off the record and it usually bought her great annoyance, " _Avatar Aang, is he_ -"

"A statement will be submitted tomorrow." And with that, she hung up. "The man needs to mind his own damn business."

"Don't be like that badgermole. He's just trying to help."

"You mean like you were trying to help that acolyte this morning? I know you had something to do with that."

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't."

Lin walked into the dinning room to see Bumi barely keeping his eyes open. "Bumi, when did you get in?"

"This morning. I couldn't catch a wink of sleep last night. I was worried I would miss seeing dad off and I arrived to hear he had passed." He let out a shudder as he willed himself not to cry. "He left me a letter. I can't bring myself to read it. What if it says I'm a disappointment? What if it says I failed him as a son? What if it sa-"

"Bumi, dad would never even think those thoughts, so neither should you."

The non-bender looked up to see his little sister passing her daughter to Lin, before she came around to his side of the table and hugged him. "Thanks Kya, you always know when I need a hug."

"We need each other now more than ever." She let go of her brother and took a seat next to him.

"Your right. So, what's with the kid? I thought you two were, you know."

"Well I tried to send you a letter, clearly it didn't make it and I couldn't call you. Bumi, this is our daughter, Kuvira. We adopted her from Zaofu."

"I have a niece?" He asked gleefully. "Can I hold her?" Lin handed her daughter gently to Bumi, before going into the kitchen and quickly returning with a bottle. "She's cute. If I didn't know she was adopted I'd say she is a perfect combination of you two. I think I finally have a reason to be happy about coming home."

"Would you like to feed her?" Lin asked as she handed the bottle to Kya to warm up.

"Yes please." Once the bottle was in his hand, he watched intriguingly as the four month old suckled greedily. "Have you not been feeding her?"

* * *

The day had been filled with tears as family and friends said their final goodbyes. Zuko and his family, along with Su and her family made it in time for the funeral, which was a brief event. As air nomad tradition states, once an airbender passes on, their body is buried within the next twenty-four hours, to be reabsorbed into the world. Toph did the honours of burying their friend on the highest point of Air Temple Island.

And now they were drinking and telling stories of their time spent with the late Avatar. Laughter filled the island as Bumi finished telling the story of how he thought it would be a good idea to feed his father's robes to an airbison.

Kya was enjoying herself until the baby in her arms began to cry softly at the loud noise. "Lin, I'm going to take Kuvira back to our room. I think she needs a nap."

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"No, I'll be fine." She lightly kissed her girlfriend before leaving the wake. "Sorry about that honey, but your uncle loves to tell stories that make people laugh. Don't tell him I said this, but I think they are laughing at him." She allowed herself a soft laugh as she ran a hand through the small tuff of black hair on top of her head. "I'm sorry you didn't get to know your grandfather. There was still so much I wanted to learn about him, but we never had time, he never had time." Kya let out a sigh as she continued on her way. She stopped when she heard whimpering coming from her parents… mother's bedroom. Looking inside, she saw her mother crying as she packed a bag with clothes. "Mum?"

"Hmm, oh, Kya. I didn't see you there." Katara sniffled as she continued to pack.

"Where are you going?"

"The South Pole."

Kya thought nothing of this. Katara went to the South Pole quite often, especially in her later years, so why wouldn't she now? "How long for?"

"Indefinitely."

Kya's mouth dropped. Her mother was leaving and she hadn't even discussed it with her. "So what? Dad passes away and you leave without even talking to your children first?"

"Yes. This is something I need to do. It's where I was born and it's where I want to die."

Kya knew there was nothing she could do to change the older bender's mind, so there is only one thing to do. "I'm coming with you."

"Kya," Katara sighed, "you can't just leave to come with me. You have a child that needs you."

"And a mum that needs me. Lin can look after her, she will understand."

"Kya-"

"I'm not taking no for an answer. I don't want you being down in the South on your own. At least let me be with you for a year. That way I can make sure you will be okay. When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow. Bu-"

"It's settled. I'll go start packing myself."

Katara let out a sigh as her daughter left her alone. "Aang, please give me strength."

* * *

"What do you mean you're going to the South Pole for a year!?"

"I have to go with my mother Lin." Kya was currently packing her bag with the little clothes she had left on the island. "I thought you would be more supportive."

Lin ran a hand through her hair out of frustration. "I'm trying to be supportive but you are asking so much. How am I meant to take care of a baby on my own? I don't have the same experience as you do. What if she gets sick? What am I meant to do? I'm an earthbender, Kya, we are least maternal people on the planet, and your asking me to look after an infant _for a year_. I just don't know if I can do it."

Kya stopped packing. She turned around and took Lin's hands into her own. "Of course you can. You've come so far in these last couple of months. You can do this Lin. Please, for me?"

Lin let out a sigh as she collapsed on the bed. "I'm going to miss you. A year is a long time."

"I'm going to miss you too." Kya laid down on the bed and curled up to her girlfriend.


	3. Chapter 2

**Damn, i really enjoyed writting this chapter. it just flowed out so nicely and smoothly. i figured out what the next few chapters will be but like always, if you wanna see something in here, just ask. Anyway, read, review and enjoy.**

* * *

Lin was tired to say the least. Kya had left just over eight hours ago at midnight and their daughter had not stopped screaming bloody murder. Lin tried everything in her power to stop Kuvira crying. She wasn't hungry, her nappy was clean but she changed it just in case, she wasn't sleepy, she had also been cuddled. Lin tried to get some sleep, deciding to let Kuvira cry herself to sleep, even then she only managed a couple hours of shut eye and that came at a costly price, running late for work.

"Shit." Leaping out of bed, she summoned her armour to her at such a speed it nearly sent her careening into her bedroom wall. She looked at herself in the adjoining bathroom's mirror and frowned. "I look like crap." Grabbing her toothbrush, she vigorously cleaned her teeth and gave her hair a quick run through with her hairbrush, all while a four-month-old baby screamed across the hall.

Running into her daughter's bedroom, she picked up the diaper bag and slung it over her shoulder before quickly dashing to her police vehicle. As she left her home, she realised it was just after eight, on a Monday, a workday. Which meant peek hour traffic. Oh how the universe loved her. She only managed to drive for five minutes before the traffic caused her to come to a halt. "Damnit! I will not be late." Parking on the side of the road, the Chief of police got out of the car and quickly going to the backseat to take her daughter out of her baby seat. With some careful bending she managed to secure a still crying Kuvira to her back using her armour to hold her securely. "All right baby girl, hold on tight."

As soon as they were in the air, Kuvira began to calm down to the point that her crying was now faint whimpering. "Great, so when you're safely on the ground you cry, but when you're swinging dangerously between buildings, you're fine." Lin landed on the windowsill of her office. Quickly unlocking the window, she entered her office, only to have Kuvira's crying start up again, alerting the officers outside that someone was in their boss's office.

The door opened to reveal her secretary, who used to work as her mother's, standing in the doorway in a defensive position. "Lin?" She took in the open window and the baby strapped to the Chief's back. "You didn't."

"Penga, I can explain."

Penga closed the door behind her and went to remove the baby clinging to her father's back. "Were you seriously so concerned with being on time, that you strapped a kid to you back? What if a reporter had seen you? What if... she?" She got a nod from Lin, indicating her assumption to be correct. "Right, what if she had fallen out. I can see the headlines now. _Baby sized splat on sidewalk, Chief responsible._ Whose kid is this anyway?"

"Mine."

"But, you're with Kya. And last time I checked, neither of you were pregnant or cable of getting each other pregnant."

"Kya and I adopted her. It's a long story."

"You're a mother?"

"Father. Like I said, long story." Lin moved to the little closet in her office and pulled out a towel. "I have a press conference in the lobby in twenty minutes to address the press on why Air Temple Island is closed for the week. And I smell like crap. Can you look after her while I get ready?" Lin didn't wait for a response as she handed Penga the change bag and made her way for the door.

"But, I don't even know her name."

* * *

Lin took in a deep breath, something she hadn't needed to do since she made her first press address as a rookie after a high profile murder. The death of her uncle was still fresh in her mind and she knew she had to put up every wall in her mind to prevent herself from breaking down in front of the people before her. "Ladies and gentlemen of the press," every man and woman there with a camera or notepad began screaming questions at her, demanding answers for something that wasn't even relevant to them, "no questions will be answered. I will be providing you all with the information you need. Roughly three days ago, Air Temple Island was closed off to the public. The reason is something you have all known for the past few months. Avatar Aang's health." The room became silent with the odd flash from a camera every few seconds waiting for her to make the announcement they all knew were coming. "Just over forty eight hours ago, Avatar Aang passed away." The flashings of cameras ignited along with questions being raised about the late avatar.

"Friends and family surrounded him in his final moments. He passed away due to natural causes and is buried, according to air nomad culture, in an unmarked grave. This has been a hard time for everyone and Air Temple Island will remain closed for a week out of respect for Avatar Aang. We ask that you respect the wishes of his family as they deal with this tragic event. And I ask that we stand in unity as a community until the next Avatar is ready to take on the challenges of keeping balance. Thank you for your time. This concludes the press conference."

Shouting could be heard as she walked away from the podium and back to her office. She rubbed her neck out of fatigue. Not even noticing the looks her officers were giving her until she reached her door. "Don't you all have work to do?" The floor was once again full of its usual noise as she entered her office, to find her mother sitting on her couch, cradling her granddaughter. "Mum? What are you doing here?"

"Penga called, said you were swinging around town with a baby strapped to your back. What were you thinking?!" It was a hushed yell, as she feared making the whimpering baby in her arms scream again. "Do you have any idea what could have happened if someone saw you?"

"Not much. You used to get away with it when I was born."

"Yeah, and if we had an established child services, they would have done something about it."

"No one saw mother, it's fine."

"It's not fine! If they even suspect you of putting Kuvira in danger, they can take her away! Do you really want to have that conversation with Kya? Because I can nearly guarantee you, she would leave you. Today, you not only put your daughter in danger, but your relationship with Kya. I never thought you could be so stupid."

"Okay! I get it. Back off."

"I won't back off. Why did you even find the need to travel here the way you did? And I swear if you tell me it was because you were running late, I will throw something at you."

"Well, I was running late," Lin ducked as a piece of her office floor was thrown at her head, "will you let me finish. Kuvira has been crying all night and I wasn't able to sleep. I had to let her cry while I tried to catch one or two hours of sleep, when I woke up late. I had a press conference and needed to be here on time. I realise that was a huge mistake on my part. But I'm struggling, mum. My daughter is crying and screaming and I have no idea what to do."

"Well for starters, you can try to help her fever."

"Fever?"

Toph let out a sigh at her daughter's ignorance. "Yes a fever. If a kid is screaming, it's usually because something is wrong. They don't scream like that for the joy they get at seeing their parents go mad. Though I think Su did, but that was different. Even though i'm retired, I've got things under control here. I suggest taking her to the doctors and seeing if they can't give her something."

"I can't leave. There are going to be a flood of calls surrounding Aang's death I-"

"I was there too badgermole. You're a parent now, your child comes first."

"Okay, I'll go."

"Good. Take the day off to get some sleep. Kuvira will need your constant attention."

Lin picked up the baby bag and then took Kuvira from her mother. "Thanks mum."

"You're welcome."

* * *

Lin was relieved to see her police vehicle sitting in the station's garage, with a note on the windscreen. _Not wise to leave the keys in the ignition Chief._ Lin would have laughed if Kuvira weren't in pain. She had drilled it into her rookies heads to make sure they had the keys on them at all time, and now here she was, being told the same thing.

The drive wasn't a long one thankfully. Lin waited in the waiting room, along with every other mother trying to get their child medical attention, rocking Kuvira gently to keep her calm, when a doctor came into the room. "Kuvira Beifong?"

Lin stood up and followed the tall doctor into his office and taking a seat once inside. "Thank you for seeing us on such short notice."

"No problem. It's the least I can do for the Chief of police. You guys help us out a lot with drug addicts." Clasping his hands together, she swiveled his chair closely to her. "So I take it my patient is the one in tears?"

"Yes. My mother believes she has a fever. I don't know how she could possibly know that though."

The doctor leaned back in his chair and ran a hand through his short hair as he let out a small laugh. "I take it you haven't been a mother for long."

"Father, actually. Her mother is in the South at the moment. And no, I haven't."

"Great, can you do something for me?" She gave him a small nod as she prepared herself for what was about to come. "Take one of your hands, and place it on her forehead."

She did as she was asked. "She is really warm and kinda sweaty."

"I guess your mother was right."

Lin pinched her nose out of frustration for her lack of knowledge. "I'm such an idiot."

"No you're not. Your girlfriend is Kya and her mother is Katara correct?"

"Yeah, how did you-"

"Kya taught me in some classes a few years ago. We got to know each other. Anyway, with having two skilled healers around you nearly twenty four seven, it doesn't allow you to pick up on these small things. As soon as you weren't feeling well someone healed you."

"So, can you heal Kuvira?"

"I'm afraid not. I can alleviate some pain but it's actually good she is sick. It strengthens her immune system. Though first, let me check what is causing the fever." He covered his hands in some water, before moving to the baby in Lin's arms. He went straight to her ears and smiled as he pulled back. "Just as I thought. Ear infection. In her left ear to be specific. I can give you antibiotics that mix with her milk. It will help clear up the infection while allowing her immune system to grow."

"Thank you doctor…"

"Shu."

"Thank you doctor Shu."

"No problem." He placed his lightly tanned hands, encased in water, over Kuvira's chest and waited a few minutes until the glow began to recede. "That should calm down the fever. i can't do much for the ear without healing it completely. If you have any trouble, here's my card. Feel free to call."

Lin took his card and gave him a small bow.

* * *

It was around six o'clock and Kuvira had yet to fall asleep. Every few minutes, she would let out a whimper because of the pain her ear was causing and every time it would cause Lin's heart to break a little more to the point she had to make a call. "Hello, Su?"

" _Lin, is that you?_ "

"Yeah, it's me."

" _How are things being a 'dad'?_ "

"Not that great actually. Kuvira has an ear infection. I gave her antibiotics the doctor prescribed but I can't get her to sleep. Do you have any tips?"

" _Sure do. Baatar Junior went through the same thing a few months ago. Is it her right ear or left?_ "

"Left"

" _Are you holding her to the left or right of your body?_ "

"I'm left handed genius, you figure it out."

" _Should you really be getting snappy at the person trying to help you Lin?_ "

Lin let out a sigh as she took a seat in the chair in the corner of her bedroom, holding the phone tightly to her ear using her shoulder. "I'm sorry. I haven't gotten the minimum amount of sleep I usually get so I'm just a tad high-strung."

" _Apology accepted. Alright, I'm going to naturally assume you're in your bedroom?_ " Silence. " _Get on the bed and re-position Kuvira so she is lying on the left side of your chest. Your heartbeat will sooth her and make sure she is resting on the right side of her face otherwise she will irritate the infection._ "

Lin climbed on the bed and got into position, relieved when she noticed Kuvira visibly calm down and her eyelids become droopy. "Holy crap, it worked."

" _Told you. I have a list of parenting books you should read, or I could come back to Republic City and lend them to you._ "

Lin let out a yawn as she placed a hand on Kuvira's bare and warm back and began to rub slow comforting circles. "Hmm? Yeah, that would be great."

" _Maybe I could stay with you a couple weeks and help you with Kuvira. Single parenthood isn't the easiest thing in the world. Mum is a living testament to that one. I think you could benefit from having someone with a few months of experience under their belt. After all, Kuvira will go through the same things Junior has gone through. So, can I come over?_ " Su listened intently for her sister's reply, preparing a counter argument when she heard faint breathing on the other end of the phone. " _All right. It will take me a day or two to get junior and myself packed so I'll see you soon. And Kuvira, if you can hear me, sleep tight. The pain will soon be over sweetie._ "

All was peaceful in the Beifong household once more.


	4. Chapter 3

**next one or two chapter's may be a bit emotional. it's going to touch base on Lin's insecurities as a parent, cause Su is the only one that can press her buttons and we will see what Kya is up to in the south. and have some aunty Su moments :). Anyway, read, review and enjoy**

* * *

Lin peered over her stack of paperwork, to make sure her daughter was still sound asleep and safe on the couch. She smiled at the innocent sight. It had been two days since the four month old was diagnosed with an ear infection and it had finally cleared up. Just as she resumed her paperwork, she was interrupted by a knock on her door. "Come in."

"Chief!"

"Shhhhh."

Penga cocked her head to the side in confusion at her boss' insistence that she remained quite. It all made sense when Lin pointed to the baby. "What is she doing here?"

"Because my mother apparently has better things to do, her mother and grandmother are in the South Pole and I can't enrole her in day care because every spot is full. So this was my only option."

"You can't have her sleeping on a couch. What if she falls off?"

"She isn't old enough to sit up on her own. She can barely hold her head up for more than forty-five seconds. I doubt she will fall off."

"Regardless. It's not a suitable place for a baby to sleep."

Lin let out a sigh, no way was Penga going to leave this alone. "Did you come in here to lecture me on parenthood, or did you come in here to actually tell me something?"

Swallowing her pride, Penga handed the Chief a piece of paper. "The rookies need someone to put the fear of Kyoshi into them. They're starting to slack off to the point that their senior partners can no longer control them. They're all waiting in the gym for you."

"I'll get right on it." Standing up from her desk, Lin made her way to the door, only to have it blocked by her assistant.

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

Lin looked to her sleeping daughter, a heartbroken look crossed her face. "I could take her with me?"

"Why don't you let me see if I can get someone to look after her. I promise it will be someone we can trust."

The metalbender bit her lip nervously. Should she really trust her assistant to choose a random member of the public to look after her daughter? Does she really have a choice? "Okay. Do it."

Prenga put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Lin, it's going to be okay. You can trust me."

"I know. Thank you."

* * *

Lin was covered in sweat as she made the slow, painful trek back to her office. She had challenged all thirty rookies to engage in combat with her one by one and she was entirely run down. She had to deal with arrogant firebenders, earthbenders who thought they had what it takes to call themselves metalbenders and a few waterbenders that thought they were above everyone. Each was given a chance to prove themselves to her, but failed and were reminded that they were on the bottom of the food chain. And now, she just wanted to grab a towel from her office and have a shower.

"Chief?" That shower would have to wait. Turning towards Penga, she inclined her head slightly towards her, indicating her to continue. "I found someone to look after Kuvira, he is in your office with your daughter and is waiting to speak with you."

"Thank you." Lin took a deep breath, hoping she didn't smell too bad, and entered her office to find none other than Tenzin sitting on the couch. "You? Penga chose you to look after Kuvira?"

The airbender didn't take his eyes off the baby as he swayed from left to right. "Why not? I'm her uncle and I'm free unless I'm handling issues of the Air Nation, which is very rare. And it's only until you come up with a permanent solution."

"Fine. You can look after her for the rest of the day but tomorrow I will come up with something."

Picking up the baby bag, Tenzin slug it over his shoulder and offered Lin a genuine smile. "You won't regret this Lin. Kuvira and I are going to have such a fun time. We will meditate together, and I can dress her up in air robes. We are going to have so much fun." He waved a finger in front of his niece's face and put on a silly grin. "Yes we are, yes we are. Who's a good little girl, you're a good little girl."

"Tenzin, my daughter is not a dog. And if I find her in any Air Nation attire, I will beat you to a pulp."

"Of course you will."

* * *

The two exited the office together, Lin bent down and kissed Kuvira on the forehead goodbye, before she began walking towards the woman's locker room. She opened her locker and pulled a bar of soap along with her shampoo and conditioner. Undressing, she put her uniform and clothes into the locker and closed it. Making her way to the baron showers, she entered a stall and turned on the water. Once she hung up her towel she stepped under the hot spray and let out a sigh as the pressure massaged her back. It was rare that the showers were empty and it would remain that way even today, as two of her female officer's walked in and entered the stalls on each side of her.

"Hey Chief."

Lin began to regret he decision not to change the showers to have higher walls. "Hello Vaya, how are you?"

"I'm fine." The two women that were showering on either side of her, were actually twins, both in their late twenties and both of earth kingdom decent. "Word around the office is that you have a kid?"

Lin ducked her head under the water before reaching for her shampoo. "Yes I do, what of it?"

"Well, Maya and I also have kids of our own and we often struggle to find them day-care or a babysitter that isn't trying to steal from us."

"So," Vaya cut in, "we were walking to work a couple days ago and noticed that the tea shop a couple streets away shut down. It's a perfect spot for a day-care. We are not the only officers that struggle to find someone to look after our kids. Especially those of us whose only option is for our partner to stay at home during the day."

Lin considered this for a moment, _more officers would probably be able to become full timers, I'd have somewhere to put Kuvira, it could give retirees a chance to still work and it's not like I can't afford it._ "Alright. Tell you what, you two get me the deed and I'll sign it, _but_ you have to renovate it within two weeks."

The two sisters gave her a smile. "Deal!"

Lin's eyes narrowed at them when they turned off their showers and began walking back to the locker room. "Wait, did you two just have a rinse to talk to me?"

"Of course," Vaya said as she grabbed her towel, "It's the only place where we can talk to you like equals. By the way, great body Chief."

Lin watched, amused, as they walked out of the room.

* * *

Tenzin arrived back on Air Temple Island by ferry for the first time in a long time, due to the baby he had in his arms. To say the least, he was thoroughly enjoying making his niece smile and giggle. He couldn't wait to show her the marble trick that his father taught him.

"Hello master Tenzin."

The airbender stopped in his tracks at the mention of his name. "Oh hello Pema. What are you doing today?"

"Oh, just a few chores. I thought I'd get them done before it starts to snow next week." Her eyes widened as she finally noticed the baby in his arms. "Oh master Tenzin, I didn't know you were a father."

"I'm not." He chuckled lightly at the insinuation. "This is my niece, Kuvira. Her parents are busy so I offered to look after her." He looked down at the baby to see her making a funny face. "Why is she looking like that?"

"Uh, master Tenzin, I think she is about to," a horrible odour soon filled the air, "poop."

"Oh no."

"What's wrong?"

Tenzin looked away from the woman, as a blush crept onto his face. "I've never changed a nappy before. As a matter of fact, I've never taken care of a baby, period. Quite frankly, I don't know what possessed me to agree to look after her."

"Well, I could show you. I've looked after babies in the past so I'm pretty experienced."

Tenzin let out a sigh. "Okay. I can't let her sit in her own excrement for the rest of the day, or let her starve." He led them into the main house that was now practically empty since his father passed away. He found it quite lonely but knew one day it will be full again. They entered the nursery that his mother had set up since Bumi's birth, and put his niece on the changing table. "Do you want me to get a fresh nappy out of the bag?"

"Yes thank you. Can you also get the wipes and baby powder?"

"Of course." Reaching into the bag, he pulled out what she asked for as she unbuttoned Kuvira's green onsie. He watched intently as Pema disposed of the dirty nappy, wiped her clean, then put some baby powder on her little bottom.

"Would you like to put on the new nappy?"

"Sure, I guess I should do something."

He grabbed the new nappy and made a poor attempt to put it on her. "Uh, Master Tenzin, you're putting it on backwards."

"Oh, right." Turning it around, he managed to put her into it with relative ease and then redressed her. "That wasn't too bad."

"Master Tenzin, if you want, I could uh, show you how to make a bottle of milk?"

Tenzin gave her a small smile. "I'd like that. And please, call me Tenzin."

* * *

Lin was running late. She called Tenzin half an hour ago, telling him she would be home in ten minutes, but due to a rookies stuff up with the clock in mechanism, she and nearly ten other officers were running home late. She made it home to find Tenzin nowhere in sight. _Maybe he went back home?_ Walking up the stairs to her front door, Lin found that it was open a crack and could hear not one, but two babies giggling inside her house. Pushing open the door, the metalbender silently crept into the lounge room to see her sister on the ground, blowing raspberries on her son's and niece's stomachs. "Su?"

"Hey Lin. You're late coming home. Tenzin was lucky I was here to open the front door."

"You do know this is breaking and entering, right? And you left the door open."

"I didn't break anything so it's just entering." Su said with a shrug.

Lin let the argument go, knowing it was pointless. "What are you doing here Su?"

"Checking in on my big sister of course. I told you I was coming over when you called for advice about Kuvira's ear infection. Though I think you fell asleep."

" _Great_." Lin removed her armour and put it in a neat pile. "How long are you staying here for?"

"I thought I'd stay for a couple of weeks, or at least until you learn everything you need to know about caring for Kuvira."

Lin cocked an eyebrow at her little sister. "How much can there be to learn? All they do is eat, poop and sleep."

Su shot her a smirk as she reached into her bag and pulled out seven thick books on parenting. "This is how much there is to learn."

Lin paled at the sight of the books. "This is going to be a long couple of weeks."


	5. Chapter 4

**next chapter, Su will be gone, then the introduction of the Sato's the one after that, Kya will be back. Read, Review and Enjoy**

* * *

Suyin was in a chipper mood as she sat in the rocking chair feeding her niece from a bottle, after feeding her son first. Once the bottle was empty, she put Kuvira back in the crib with Baatar Junior. Her heart skipped a beat when the baby boy took Kuvira's hand into his own. _Spirits I wish I had a camera_. She covered them both with a blanket and kissed them on the forehead before retreating silently into the hallway.

She was making her way to the stairs when she heard a grunt come from her sister's bedroom. Unable to contain her curiosity, Su pushed open the door to see her sister sweating profusly and clutching the bed sheets. Clear signs of a nightmare. Deciding to put her sister out of her misery, she walked over to the side of the bed and barely touched Lin on the arm. The older metalbender sat upright in bed with a gasp. Realising it was just a dream, Lin dropped back down on the mattress and flopped her arms over her eyes in an attempt to block out the winter sun. "What do you want Su?"

"I thought you were in trouble. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

Su decided to leave it alone, knowing that if she tried to interfere it would end up in an argument and she would be left with more questions. "Well, I thought we could spend your day off spending time with the kids. You've been at work all week and I can tell Kuvira misses you."

"I know. I don't need you to remind me of that fact."

"Oh you should have seen them this morning. Junior was holding Kuvira's hand in his sleep, it was adorable." Su said, sidestepping her sister's negative tone.

Lin removed her arm from her eyes, to cock an eyebrow at her sister. "You're not going to be like uncle Aang right? Because we all know how that ended."

"With you screwing his daughter instead? Yeah, I think I remember. Come on, get up." Deciding that Lin wasn't getting up fast enough for her liking, Su took hold of her arm and pulled her out of bed. Once she had her on her feet, she pushed her lightly on her scarred back towards her wardrobe. The flinch at the contact didn't go unnoticed by Su. It wasn't like she hadn't seen the scars before but she knew that Lin was apprehensive when it came to people touching them. "So umm, have you heard from Kya yet?"

Lin internally sighed in relief at the question, happy that it was able diffuse the tension in the room. "Her boat got in yesterday so I should get a call today."

She tugged on her clothes and proceeded to lead her sister to the top of the stairs. "I'll start the fire, can you grab Kuvira for me?"

"No problem."

Lin kneeled next to the fireplace and let out a few deep breaths in an attempt to reduce her heart rate from the dream. "Fuck."

"You okay?" Came her sister's voice from upstairs.

"Yeah, I uh, I broke a match." Throwing a couple of logs into the fireplace, she struck a match and watched it eat the kindling. Determining it large enough to survive, she entered the kitchen to make tea for herself and Su.

Her focus was broken when Su entered the kitchen, with a crying Kuvira in her arms. "I think she wants her mother."

"Too bad, she's in the South."

Su let out a sigh. "You know what I meant. I'm not used to calling a woman 'dad.'" Lin took her daughter into her arms and struggled to get her to calm down. "Try holding her upright a bit more, or bounce on the balls of your feet, that usually calms down Junior."

"Fine." Putting Kuvira into a different position, she began to bounce lightly, but the child began to scream.

"What did you do?"

"I took your stupid advice, that's what."

Baatar Junior began to fuss in his mother's arms. "I'm going to take him into another room before he starts crying too."

Once she left, Lin took a seat at the kitchen table and changed Kuvira's position to something they were both familiar with. "Hey now, stop crying. Daddy's got you and I'm never going to let you go." Kuvira's cries began to quieten down until they became soft whimpers. "See, that wasn't so hard, was it? Wait, why are you making that face?" A smell filled Lin's nostrils much to her disgust. "Spirits kid, how did you do that to milk?"

Suyin re-entered the kitchen and immediately covered her nose. "Oh wow, smells like a number three."

"Number three?"

"Diarrhea. It happens. Umm, Lin, Her nappy is leaking."

Lin moved Kuvira away from her body to see her pants and white tank top covered in the little human's waste. "Ah shi-"

"Baby." Lin stood up and headed upstairs to the nursery where a change table was set up. "If you want, I can teach you how to put on a nappy properly so it doesn't leak, after you give her a bath of course."

"A bath?"

"When a baby has diarrhea, it's good to give them a bath in case you missed anything." Su pushed her sister to the side and got to work on her niece. First removing the filthy onsie and then the extremely lose nappy that was covered in… brown. "Can you get the bath ready while I clean her up?"

"Sure, I guess." Lin entered the bathroom and placed the baby bath into the regular bath. She checked the temperature before allowing it to fill the tub. _Just one more week, just one more week. She's only been here for seven days and she's already beginning to drive me crazy. You can't eat that, it's bad for you. You need to go to bed now if you want to wake up early for work. Kuvira misses you. Does she not think I know that? Why does she think I stay up with Kuvira? Spirits she's driving me up the wall._ She took a deep breath to calm her nerves as Su came into the bathroom. "Bath is ready."

Su looked at the baby bath and shook her head in disapproval. "Too much water. She could drown."

"She could if I wasn't here to watch her. I've gone to crime scenes where babies have drowned in a toilet, because their parents weren't there. I'm here Su, so put her in the bath before she freezes."

"No." Su reached for the baby bath and tipped some of the water out until it met her satisfactory standards. "Do you have a thermometer to check the water temperature?"

"You're kidding, right? Kya showed me what the temperature should feel like and I've managed bath times on my own, one month after we bought her home, so put her in the damn tub."

"Fine but I suggest buying a thermometer."

Lin leaned against the bathtub, as her sister lowered Kuvira into the water. _Deep breathes, relax.  
_  
"Now you want to be very gentle. A baby's skin is very sensitive. You need to treat them with care."

 _No shit._

"Now that she's all clean, it's good to put on moisturiser and then pat her dry with a towel. Can you watch her while I get the lotion?"

"Sure." Lin sighed and got onto her knees as Su left to get the baby lotion from the nursery. "So kid, you think she's going to have you smelling like papaya, or mango?" Kuvira giggled, just happy to hear her father's voice. "My chubby badgermole is going to smell like a girl. It's my worst nightmare."

"I'm back! I have my cherry blossom lotion."

 _Nope, my worst fear is you smelling like my sister._

Su lifted Kuvira out of the tub, onto the changer and rubbed in the lotion before patting her dry with a towel. "Watch closely Lin."

"I'm watching."

"You should put powder around her legs to stop her getting nappy rash, then position the nappy so there is no movement, that way it doesn't rub against her."

"Great. Are you going to dress her too or let her freeze?"

* * *

They were relaxing on the couch together, while the children had their afternoon nap, when the phone rang. Picking it up, Lin answered it like she always did, sternly. "Beifong."

" _Hey Beifong. You know I still can't get over you answering the phone like that. It's adorable._ "

"Kya? Spirits I miss you."

Su tapped Lin on the leg to get her attention. "I'm going to check on Junior."

"Yeah okay."

" _Is someone there?_ "

"Hmm? Oh, Su's here. She's been helping me with Kuvira."

" _How is our baby girl?_ "

"She was a bit of a handful the first couple of days. She had a fever and an ear infection. I had no idea until mum came by my office and told me to take her to the doctors. I really suck at the single parenting job."

Kya let out a sigh. She wanted to be there so badly to help but she was stuck in the South helping her mother. " _Lin, you can do this. I know you can._ "

"Thanks. How was the boat ride?"

" _Slow and long. I swear it would have just been easier to take a bison. Have you been okay, without me?_ "

"To be honest, I have no idea. I think the dreams are back. I had the first one last night."

" _Are we talking about the dreams involving me, or the memories with your mother?_ "

"The memories. I haven't had bad dreams involving you since we began sharing a bed. I just pray to the spirits they won't start up again, with you in the South Pole. Su actually woke me from it this morning."

" _Is that good?_ "

"I don't know. I'm happy I didn't have to relive the entire memory but I don't like the idea of her seeing me in a vulnerable position. The only ones I have trusted in those situations was you, mum and Katara. I didn't even talk to Tenzin when we were together."

Kya stayed silent for a few moments as she tried to come up with a solution. " _Maybe spray some of my perfume on my pillow. It could trick the mind into thinking I'm there. Or let Kuvira sleep in the bed with you._ "

"Yeah, I could try that."

" _So how has Su's help been?_ "

"A bit of a pain to be honest. I mean, I'm happy she's here to help out, but I feel like she's being really condescending to me. She's giving me all these tips that work with Junior, but not all of them work with Kuvira. They have completely different personalities, even for babies."

" _I'm sure she is just trying to help, Lin. Don't be too hard on her._ "

The conversation was interrupted by Suyin entering the room, carrying Baatar and Kuvira in her arms. "Lin, Kuvira needs to be changed."

Lin let out a sigh. "Kya I have to go change Kuvira and Su is starring at me weirdly, I think she wants to talk to you."

" _Alright, I'll call when I get a chance. One phone between a small community makes it pretty hard. I love you._ "

"I l-" she looked at her sister to see her giving her a knowing smirk, "I love you too."

"Aww Lin! You are so adorable!"

"Shut up!" She put the receiver down on the side table and picked Kuvira off the floor before retreating upstairs.

Su let out a laugh as she took the phone into her hands. "Hey Kya."

" _Hey Su. So how much did you hear?_ "

"I don't know what you're talking about."

" _Don't play with me Su._ "

"I heard the last half. Is Lin okay? I want a straight answer. I'm not a fan of seeing her in that situation."

" _She's fine. There is nothing to worry about. She's just been through a lot and with me in the South Pole, she doesn't have anyone to lean on at the moment._ "

"Hmm, Lin likes to be the one to protect other's but in reality, you're her protector."

" _Someone needs to guard the guardian. But seriously Su, thanks for being there for her._ "

"It was no trouble. I just want to make sure you have a baby to come home to."

There was a commotion on the other end, followed by Kya sighing. " _I have to go. Some people are so impatient. Thanks again Su. Ill see you in a year. And one last thing, it doesn't hurt to let Lin make some mistakes with looking after Kuvira, how else is she meant to learn? Alright, bye._ "

"Bye."

* * *

Lin lay on her bed, hovering over a giggling Kuvira, as she lowered herself to once again blow a raspberry on her daughter's tummy. She couldn't help the flutter she felt in her chest at making this tiny creature radiate with joy. It was something she believed she would never get sick of. "Does that tickle badgermole? I've got something that is much worse." Lin pushed herself onto her knees and began tickling Kuvira's feet, causing the baby to laugh loudly.

The father daughter bonding was interrupted by a bleary eyed Suyin, dressed in her pyjamas and nightgown. "How are you two even still awake?"

"What are you on about? It's only nine."

Su looked at the clock to find that her sister was correct. "Oh. I'm already turning into an old lady."

"What does that make me?"

"Bizarre. Besides, I think it is time Kuvira goes to bed."

"She is in bed."

"You're not telling me she's staying with you tonight, are you?" Su sighed as she took a seat on the bed. "Lin, you can't let her sleep with you. It will make her too attached to you. And you need to get up at five for work which will inevitably wake her up, ruining her sleeping schedule more."

"Look, Kuvira is my daughter and I know her better than you do. In these situations, I believe I should get to decide what is best for her. Thank you Su, but I think maybe you should go to bed."

"Okay, I- I'll see you tomorrow night, I guess."

Once she left the room, Lin flopped onto her back and put propped Kuvira against her knees. "Do you think I was too hard on her kid?" A little grunt escaped the baby girl. "Yeah, I guess you're right, but she needed to know." With a small gesture of her wrist, the bedside lamp turned off.


	6. Chapter 5

**okay, this is it, then Kya is back next chapter. I'm not %100 sure about this chapter but I'll leave it to you wonderful people to let me know. Read, review and enjoy**

* * *

It was summer time in Republic City and Lin was loving it. She and Kuvira were currently lying on the grass of their backyard under a tree, to protect them from the sun and heat. "Come on kid, you can do it." Kuvira just looked at her father as though she were an idiot, before pushing herself up off the ground and waddling away. "This used to be so much easier when you couldn't walk."

Lin crawled after her daughter and picked her off the ground to throw her into the air, causing the little girl to squeal in delight. "Enjoy it while it lasts badgermole, when mummy gets back, no more fun for the two of us." She laid herself and Kuvira back on the ground and made sure her daughter was paying attention to her. "Alright baby girl, just make the earth move." Lin pressed her hand into the ground, causing a little crater to form as a demonstration.

Kuvira smiled at Lin as she raised a hand and hit her on the cheek.

"Thanks. But that's not what I wanted you to do. Come on, you did it for grandma Toph and uncle Tenzin, now I want to see it."

The little girl just flopped on her back, and put her foot in her mouth.

"Charming." The metalbender took her daughter into her arms and made her way back inside, where she poured herself a drink with some ice, while keeping Kuvira on her hip. Just as she was about to take her place on the couch, the doorbell rang. "I swear, if it's another one of those Air Nomad missionaries, I'm going to hit your uncle Tenzin upside the head the next time I see him." Lin opened the door to find a tall woman, with a two-year-old hiding behind her leg in fear. "Can I help you?"

"Oh, hello. My name is Yasuko Sato and this is my daughter Asami. We just moved into the estate up the road and thought I'd come to introduce myself."

"Hi, I guess. My name is Lin." She stepped out of the doorway. "Please, come in."

"Thank you. Come on Asami." The Sato's made their way inside cautiously and took a seat on the sofa. "This is a very nice place Lin."

Lin placed Kuvira on the ground so she could play with her earthen blocks. "Thank you. Can I get you a drink? I have bourbon if whiskey isn't to your liking."

"No thank you. It's a little bit early for me." Awkward silence came over them, so Yasuko thought speaking about kids, may be able to help them get acquainted. "How old is your daughter?"

"She's a little over eleven months I believe."

"Wow. Asami just had her second birthday. Before I know it, she'll be driving cars and dating boys. So what does your husband do for work?"

"I don't have a husband."

A frown took over Yasuko's smile. "Oh. Well, what does Kuvira's father do for work?"

"I have no idea." Lin took a sip of her drink to stop herself from laughing. _Come on Lin, it isn't nice to play with someone like this… even if it is funny._

Yasuko was now confused. A woman was raising her daughter, in a nice home without even knowing the father. Yes there were single women but they knew background information of the child's father. "Did he die?"

"No, he and his wife left."

"I'm sorry, but I'm now very confused."

Lin allowed herself a small chuckle. "Kuvira is adopted. My girlfriend and I have been rasing her since she was a couple months old."

"Well that makes sense. Where is your girlfriend?"

"In the South helping her mother, she should be back in five months. What about your husband, what does he do for a living?"

"He's an engineer and inventor. He made the Sato mobile." The younger woman beamed with pride.

"Your husband is Hiroshi Sato?"

"Yes! You've heard of him?"

Lin downed the rest of her drink and placed the empty glass on the side table. "I have a meeting with him tomorrow morning. We are excited to see what his machines can do."

Realisation came across the woman's face and it quickly turned into embarrassment. "You're Lin Beifong. Chief, Lin Beifong."

"Pleasure."

"I'm such an idiot."

"No you're not, I was mean for not clueing you in earlier."

"Well Lin, I think I've reconsidered my decision about that drink."

* * *

" _What's this? The lone wolf Beifong has made a friend?_ "

"Shut up Kya. I have friends."

" _Work friends don't count sweetie. So what's she like?_ "

"Friendly, talkative, kind of clumsy in her choice of words. I think you would like her actually. She has a two year old daughter too."

" _Sounds like Kuvira may have someone to play with in the future._ "

"If they like each oth-" A frantic knock at Lin's front door interrupted the couple's jovial conversation. "Kya, I have to go, someone's at the door."

" _Yeah, someone is wanting to use the phone here anyway. I'll talk to you in a few days. I love you."_

"Love you too." Before Lin could even get off the couch, her door burst open to reveal a very frantic Toph Beifong. "Mum?!"

"What are you doing here!? The station has been trying to contact you for the last hour to the point they had to call me."

"What's going on?"

"The Triple Threats are about to have a turf war with the Terror Triad."

Lin was already moving to prepare herself for a tough nights work. "This wasn't meant to happen for another week! The sun isn't even down yet. I need to call Tenzin to come watch Kuvira."

"Don't worry about her, I'll look after her."

Having no time to argue with her mother, the Chief of police decided to just roll with it. "Alright. You know where everything is?"

"Yes. Just get going!" Lin was barely out the door before she heard her mother shout. "And come back in one piece! Kids going to give me a heart attack one day." Hearing her grand daughter's cries, Toph entered the nursery upstairs to find Kuvira standing up in her crib. "Hello badgermole." Kuvira's cries turned to whimpers at the sound of her grandmother's comforting voice. "See, everything is okay. Dad's just gone to kick some bad guys bums." Toph took Kuvira into her arms and swayed a bit to get her to stop whimpering. "See, all better. Now let's go watch grandma Toph do some cool earthbending."

* * *

It was four in the morning when Lin finally made it through the front door of her home and the first thing she did was discard her body of the heavy metal weighing her down, with a slight hiss escaping her lips. She looked down at her left hand to see blood still pouring from a wound caused by a triad member with a knife. Heading into the kitchen, Lin pulled the antiseptic out of the first aid kit.

"You make too much noise, you know that?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

Toph shrugged. "I was awake anyway." Coming into the kitchen, she took the antiseptic from Lin and began to apply it. "You've always been uncoordinated with your right hand. It's like watching a monkey lemur. How did this happen?"

"Stupid triad member with a knife came at me."

"This is going to need stiches"

"Figured."

They continued talking while Toph felt around the medical kit for a needle and thread. "Why didn't you metalbend it away?"

"It was a reflex. Can you even feel what you're doing?"

"I feel everything."

Noticing the shakiness of her mother's hands, she covered them with her own to steady them "Mum, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

"You know, I was awake all night waiting for you to come home. I haven't felt like this in a long time, not since I retired as Chief and you were out on those streets without me being able to protect you. I felt like I was loosing you. You moved out and in with Kya so fast, I didn't have time to process it until you were gone. And now you have a family of your own. I love you and your sister very much, but you're my first, you're the one I had to go through new experiences with and it helped me in becoming who I am today. I love you Lin." Lin pulled her mother in for a tight hug, allowing her mother to burry her face into her chest. "Even forgot what your hugs were like."

"You're not loosing me, you'll never loose me. It's just that our roles in the world have changed and for the better. I'll always be your little badgermole, always."

Toph continued to cry for a few minutes until she felt herself run out of tears. "And they said Beifong's never show emotions, huh?"

"Kya could probably tell you of a few instances where I had a mental break down. So is there a reason for why you're like this, or are you getting soft in your old age."

"Yeah, there is a reason." She pulled away from Lin slightly, and placed her hand on the scarred cheek, brushing them with her thumbs lightly to indicate where her daughter's eyes were so her eyes knew where to 'look'. It was something she only did in serious conversations and it spoke volumes. "I'm leaving Republic City to go to Zaofu."

"What? Why?"

"I feel alone here. Sokka has taken over as Chief of the Southern Water Tribe, Katara has gone down there too. Zuko rarely comes to the city anymore, you and Kya work, Aang is dead. I just think I would be of help there. Su's pregnant again and she-"

"What?!"

"Oops, I wasn't meant to tell you, she wanted to do that. She only found out yesterday. But she needs me Lin."

"What about _me_? Don't you realise how much I need you?"

"I do. Spirits Lin, I do but I know you can take care of yourself and your sister is so young with one kid about to become two kids."

"Whe-" Lin's voice croaked slightly as she tried to keep her emotions at bay. "When do you leave?"

"After Kya gets back. That way I know that, that little badgermole upstairs will be safe with both of her parents present. Now lets get that hand fixed up" Taking the needle into her hand once more, Toph began to sew up the flesh.

"So will I ever see you again?"

"I'm not dying Lin. I can still visit and you can come to Zaofu every now and then. Maybe Kuvira can spend a couple weeks with her cousins and me during the colder months. There, done. Next time use your bending. I didn't spend all those hours training you to get done by your element. Now go to bed."

"Are you staying the rest of the night?"

"Yeah, but I'll probably be gone when you wake up. Night badgerole."

"Night mum."


	7. Chapter 6

**it's finally uploaded. sorry it took so long. would have been up a couple days faster if fanfic hadn't been down. anyway, thank you to all the support. Please, read, review and enjoy.**

* * *

Republic cities finest are made from the best of the best benders and intellectuals. They are able to keep those around them, and themselves safe after spending years honing their skills. So it surprised Chief Lin Beifong, when she woke in her own home, to a heavy weight on her chest and mass of white hair crowding her view. Jolting awake, Lin knocked whoever it was off of her and onto the floor, and pinned her under her own body.

"Ugh, spirits, that's not how I want to wake up in the morning."

"Kya?"

"Hello sweetie."

Lin backed off and came to sit on her knees in front of her girlfriend. "Your hair, it's white."

"Yeah," Kya ran a hand through her hair, suddenly unsure of herself, "I found a grey and instead of dying it back to brown or letting it be, I decided to change up my style. Is that okay?"

"Umm, yeah. I actually really like it. It uh, makes your skin pop?" Lin stood back up and helped Kya off the floor with a helping hand.

"My skin pop huh?"

Lin blushed like a teenager. "Yeah."

Kya leaned in dangerously close. "I don't know how you can tell that, given that you can only see the skin on my face." Kya began to undress tantalisingly slow, until she was completely naked in front of her girlfriend. "Now that you can see me fully, what do you think?"

Lin smirked as she brought her lips upon Kya's, rejoicing in the feeling after a year apart. "Beautiful, absolutely beautiful." The kiss was slow, but sloppy. Both caught up in the feeling of each other being close for the first time in a year.

The waterbender's hands travelled down her girlfriend's sides, to the belt that she always wore. She made quick work of the belt, allowing for the Chief's pants to fall with a thud. Kya did a little jump, to wrap her legs around her girlfriend's waist. A small smirk graced her lips when Lin grabbed her by her round behind. Lin took two strong strides towards their bed and lowered Kya gingerly upon the mattress. Her kisses were slow as they worked themselves down the waterbenders throat where she began to suck and bite gently, leaving a perfect circle. Her mark.

"Lin, I want you, undressed now." The metalbender sat back on her legs and attempted to remove her usual tank, when Kya's hands battered hers away. Her breath hitched as her girlfriend's hands travelled down her body, slowing down to squeeze her breasts, feeling the weight of them in her hands. "Spirits, I've missed these." She made quick work of the shirt, to reveal perky white breasts that were begging to be played with, when the phone rang.

Kya let out a groan at having her play toys taken away from her.

"Beifong. Oh hello Tenzin."

"Tenzin?" Kya lunged for the phone, snatching it from the metalbender's grasp. "How's my favourite little brother doing?"

" _Kya?! What are you doing back in Republic City?_ "

"Oh you know, just visiting, what do-oo," Kya cleared her throat, trying to calm herself as her partner's hands began to fondle her chest, "you think I'm doing?"

" _Are you okay Kya? You sound a little strange._ "

"No, I'M FINE!" Kya attempted to batter Lin's face away from her chest, but she found it to be too pleasurable and warm, so her attempts were weak.

" _Well, I'm just letting you know that Kuvira is ready to be picked up, but seeing as how you are in town, maybe you and Lin would like to have lunch at the Island. I'd love to catch up._ "

At the mention of her daughter, Kya reclaimed her chest from Lin's lips and stood off the bed. "We'll be right there." She hung up the phone and began to get dressed into some warm clothes, throwing something on the bed for Lin to wear while she was at it.

"What's your rush?"

"Lin, sweetie, I haven't seen my daughter in a year, I'm sure you can appreciate that I want to hold her as soon as possible."

"Fine, but I want to pick up where we left off when I get home."

"Deal."

* * *

"No, no, don't cry sweetie. It's me, it's mummy. I just have different hair now."

Kuvira continued to cry and squirm in Kya's arms until her father placed a calming hand on the back of her head to caress it gently. "Come on badgermole, there is no reason to cry." Lin leaned down and gave Kuvira a kiss on the forehead and did the same to Kya.

Seeing the affection her father gave this intruding woman, Kuvira calmed down and relaxed.

"Wow, that was pretty impressive Lin."

"Yeah? I just tried to show her you were no threat."

Kya frowned. "No threat huh? Spirits Lin, I'm her mother, she isn't meant to see me as some stranger."

The metalbender put a calming hand on her partner's shoulder, hoping it would bring some form of comfort. "I know, but she hasn't seen you for a year, so she has forgotten who you are. You need to spend time with her to rebuild your bond."

Kya remained silent as she carried Kuvira into the dining room where Tenzin sat with a large smile on his face. "I know you're happy to see me, but shouldn't you be preparing dinner?"

"Nope. I actually have someone I want you to meet. Honey!"

Kya gave Lin a questioning look, to which Lin replied with a shrug. A woman who appeared to be in her teens entered the room carrying a plate of food. "Oh, I wasn't aware you were here yet." The acolyte put the food down on the table and stretched her hand out to Kya, who shook it unsure of herself, and then to Lin, who just glared. "Okay. Well, I'm Pema. It's nice to meet the both of you."

"I'm sorry, who are you?"

Pema looked to Lin and gave her a smile. "I'm Tenzin's girlfriend. Have been for six months now. We met when Kuvira needed to be looked after. Tenzin was such a mess, he had no idea what to do. So I've been helping him and a few months later he asked me out on a date."

She sat next to him and placed a kiss on his cheek.

Tenzin was too busy looking into the young woman's eyes, that he didn't register Lin storming around the table until she had the scruff of his shirt in her hand and was pulling him up and towards the door, where she proceeded to push him up against it. "How dare you not tell me you had someone looking after my daughter." Her voice was low and dangerous, daring him to say something stupid.

"She's an acolyte Lin. What is she going to do to Kuvira?"

"You're aware of the monk that brought on the destruction of the Air Nation right?"

"Lin, she is a good woman and we are together. Can't you for once trust my judgement?"

Thinking it over slowly, Lin reluctantly let go of him and watched as he smoothed out his robes. "But know this Tenzin, if my daughter is ever hurt under your care, I will end you."

Knowing that she would make good on that threat, he gave her a nod before turning around and opened the door to the dining room.

"He tackled her to the ground completely butt naked! First person I knew to make the unmoveable Lin Beifong, moveable. Lin was not impressed but we all were."

"Lin, she's telling stories."

"Just block it out, it's the least we can do."

* * *

Kya lay on the floor of the lounge room with Kuvira, watching her play with earth blocks in intrigue, as a fire roared behind them. "So baby girl, daddy tells me you can earthbend. She hasn't seen it yet but apparently everyone else has. Come on, show mummy your wonderful bending?"

Kuvira giggled joyfully and pressed her two hands against Kya's face, causing the woman to laugh.

"No, hitting is bad baby girl." Kya took a block into her hands and placed it on top of another. "Can you at least do that for me?"

Kuvira picked up a blocked and put it on top of her mother's construction and clapped her hands at the achievement.

"Wait a second." Kya took the block into her hand to inspect it closer, when she saw a finger print embedded in the earth. "Spirits, you earthbended. You did it!"

There was a crash in the kitchen, as Lin ran into the lounge room and practically dived onto the floor, hoping to see her daughter earthbend. "She isn't doing anything."

"No, but look."

The metalbender took the block into her hands and looked it over. "Ugh, everyone has seen her do it but me." She collapsed onto her back and rubbed her eyes in annoyance. "Even miss acolyte has seen her do it. Why haven't I?"

Kya leaned over her girlfreind's body, white hair cascading around her face as she leaned down to kiss her. "Mm, maybe, just maybe, she sees you as a threat."

Lin cocked an eyebrow at the notion of her being a threat to her own daughter. "Excuse me?"

"Think about it. You're the only other earthbender present in her life, other than Toph, that she sees constantly. You're like her competition and she doesn't want you to upstage her. You're a threat to all her hugs and kisses."

"That's really stupid Kya. If anything, she's worried I'll criticise her." Lin let out a sigh. "We're analysing this too much. For all we know she just wants to impress people and doesn't feel the need to do so with me. I'll see it in time."

Kya smirked and began to place slow kisses down Lin's neck. "If you go upstairs and wait for me in bed, I can put Kuvira to sleep and we can continue our activities from this morning."

* * *

The two women lay in bed laughing lightly as they stared at the ceiling, completely bare and covered in sweat. "You know, we didn't really talk before, jumping, into bed."

Kya rolled over and cuddled into Lin's side, pulling up the blanket to cover them both. "What do you want to know?"

"For starters, why didn't you call me to pick you up? I thought you were coming in next week, if I had kno-"

"It's okay." Kya cut her off and leaned up to kiss her on the chin. "My boat got in too early, I didn't want to call you for a number of reasons. You could have been at work, if you were home you would have had to wake Kuvira and it's too cold for her to be out at night during winter, and I didn't want to wake you if you had work today. I can't wait to see everyone. I heard that Su is pregnant again?"

It wasn't a difficult question, she knew that, yet she couldn't help but feel a tad of hurt at the inevitable. So, she reclined back into bed and pulled Kya close. "Yeah. My mother is leaving Republic City to help her."

"What?! When is she leaving?"

"She probably has already. She said she was leaving as soon as you get back from the South." Lin's eyes began to well up, prompting Kya to place a calming hand on her scarred cheek. "She, uh, she's never been one for goodbyes. You know? She didn't even want to say bye to Aang."

"Lin, your mother has never been good at showing her emotions and the fact that she told you what she was doing, you have to see it as a true effort on her part. Besides, it gives us the excuse to visit Su.

"You mean despite her giving us another nephew or niece?"

"Yes, despite that." Kya gave her a small smile before resting her head on Lin's chest and closing her eyes. "Get some sleep, you have work tomorrow and I have mother daughter bonding to do."

"I love you Kya."

"I love you too Lin."


	8. Chapter 7

**sorry this took so long. but one more chapter and then there will be a time skip and then it can go into seriousness and everyday issues. anyway, read, review and enjoy.**

* * *

Lin woke in bed, with a perfect view into the ensuite, to see Kya sitting at the mirror applying her makeup. She slowly got out of bed and sauntered over to her, shorts hanging loosely on her hips and shirt riding up as she reached up to stretch. "Morning Kya."

"Morning Lin. Judging by your snores, you slept pretty well last night."

Lin leaned down and peppered Kya's neck lightly with kisses. "I don't snore."

"Uh huh. Keep denying it, but it's true."

"I will deny it." Lin turned around when she heard the sound of tiny feet running towards her, just in time to catch Kuvira and lift her onto her hip and kiss her on the cheek. "Someone got out of their cot again."

"I'm thinking of taking her to doctor Shu after we go shopping with Yasuko and Asami."

"Kya, she's barely eighteen months. Give her a break. Besides, you won't have time to go to the doctors, the airship leaves for Zaofu at five."

The waterbender let out a sigh as she stood from her stool and rubbed Kuvira's back gently. "I know, I just think she would have said something by now. Yasuko said Asami started talking at sixteen months."

"She's also the baby of a genius. Our baby most likely came from a crackpot. She will be okay. Just have a little faith in her." She looked at the clock on her bedside table and sighed. "Alright, I have to go to work. I'll meet you here and then we can leave for the air docks tonight."

Kya took their daughter from Lin, all the while giving her girlfriend a quick kiss. "Stay safe."

"I will."

Kya finished getting herself and Kuvira dressed, just in time to hear Yasuko beep her horn from out front. "Come on baby girl, let's go do some mother daughter bonding." She walked out to the car, baby bag slung over her shoulder while Kuvira sat in her stroller. "Hello Yasuko, lovely car."

"Thank you Kya. It's my husband's idea of a family car. Why it has to be a convertible, I will never know. I guess we're just lucky it's spring. I'll put the stroller in the boot if you want to put Kuvira in the baby seat next to Asami."

"Thanks." Kya entertained Kuvira with silly faces as she managed to get the belt mechanism into place and then took her spot in the passenger seat just in time for Yasuko to enter the vehicle.

"It's about time we do something together."

"I know what you mean. Lin really likes you by the way. Every time I called while in the South, she kept going on and on about how you beat her at pai sho. I have to say on behalf of our family, thank you for taking her ego down a notch."

Yasuko giggled softly as she put the vehicle into gear and took off. "My husband and I agreed that before we got married, he would teach me how to play, and I would teach him how to drive. For a car engineer, he can't drive to save himself."

The drive was quiet as both women enjoyed the springtime sun, until they pulled up outside the mall. Retrieving their daughters and the strollers, the women neared the entrance, only to see the doors quickly swarm with flashes. "Oh no."

Yasuko looked towards the older woman with a cocked eyebrow. "What do you mean 'oh no?'"

"It's the stupid paparazzi. I haven't had any trouble with them since Lin and I got together but now that Kuvira is in the picture, rumours are going to start flying. And with you being the wife of Hiroshi Sato, they're going to follow you and your family around everywhere, scrutinizing you behind every corner."

"What do we do?"

"We go in there and shop. There are usually officers around the mall so they should be able to keep them at bay."

The two women put a blanket over their daughters to protect them from the bright flashes, before standing up tall like the two strong capable women they were and walked into the mall where they were promptly crowded by the parasites.

"Kya, is the reason you haven't been seen in the recent months is because you were pregnant?"

"Kya, is it true you became pregnant because of Avatar Aang's death?"

"Mrs Sato, is it true you and Mister Sato both have mistresses?"

"Kya, is the baby even yours?"

"Does the baby mean you are actually straight, not gay?"

The two women had their backs up against the wall as three police officers quickly intervened. "Sung! We're going to need the Chief down here now! Call it in!"

* * *

"So you understand what you're doing while I'm away right?"

"Keeping the peace, making sure no operations are carried out that may result in death and doing the usual chiefly duties. I've got this Chief. I've done it before."

"I know Saikhan, but in the past it's only been a week at max. This might be for a lot longer. I just want things to stay the way I left it."

"I've got it Lin. You go have fun in Zaofu and give Su and the Chief my best."

"You mean Toph. I'm Chief."

"Isn't that what I said?"

Their meeting was quickly interrupted by a panting officer, barely able to keep himself upright as he spoke. "Chief! Kya and Mrs Sato are at the mall and crowded by paparazzi. There are only three officers keeping them back and they're struggling."

"Damnit." Lin stood up from her desk and walked out into the squad rooms. "Five of you follow me."

Republic City's skyline was alight, as sun reflected off of their finest metalbender's armour. Lin was out in front by a good couple hundred meters, leading the pack to the mall, where she found Yasuko and Kya pressed up against the doors, with their daughter's crying in their strollers. One solid stomp on the floor sent a barricade between the paparazzi and their victims.

"Chief Beifong! Are you aware miss Kya had a baby?"

"Were you the one to impregnate her?"

"Is it true you have the reproductive organs of a man?"

Lin was taken aback by the last question, but quickly regained her nerves. "Laddies and gentlemen of the press, the pictures you currently have are not to be published as they contain images of two children under the age of eighteen. If they are published in any papers, legal action will be taken. A statement on my behalf will be made in the future." Her officers suddenly arrived and began pushing the paparazzi back, allowing her to check on her friend and family.

Dismantling the barricade, Lin found herself at the end of her girlfriend's glare. "I thought you said you held a press conference about us and Kuvira. Months ago might I add."

"I uh." Lin soon found her arms occupied by her crying daughter and immediately got to work calming her down.

"I hope you have no plans to go back to work any time soon. You're on baby sitting duty for putting us through this."

"Me?"

"Yes you. You're the one in the public light, therefore this is on you."

Lin let out a sigh and swallowed her anger. "You know what, you're right. I'm sorry I didn't announce Kuvira to the public sooner." She looked down at Kuvira and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "There we are, all better."

"Chief."

Both Kya and Lin froze at the simple, one syllable word that escaped their daughter's mouth. "Lin, did you teach Kuvira to call you Chief behind my back?"

The waterbender was upset and Lin had no intentions of poking the bear. "I swear Kya, I did not teach her that. I call myself dad or daddy. Maybe she heard some of the officer's call me Chief?"

The two women stared at each other until Kya gave her a slow nod. "Alright. Well we need to get Kuvira some summer clothes. Yasuko, is there anything you need to get?"

Yasuko shook herself out of her stupor and began to follow the two lovers through the mall. "Just some basics. She's discovered how much fun mud puddles can be."

"Oh I could tell you some stories about Lin and her sister when they were kids. Really drove my mother up a wall."

The three women meandered through the stores, picking out whatever caught their eye, much to the displeasure of their daughter's who had to go through taking off their clothes to put on something itchy and smelly and down right ugly. "Kya sweetie, don't you think that fabric is a bit too rough for Kuvira's skin?"

"It's not too rough, what are you on about?"

Lin took the item from her girlfriend's hands and read the label. "It's all nylon. I suggest cottons. That's what my mother bought for Su and I when we were kids. She couldn't read what they were made of and went by touch."

"Alright. I trust your mother's judgement on these things."

It was two in the afternoon when they finally finished and Lin's stomach was extremely happy when they began to move towards the food court, only to be stopped by Yasuko gasping. "I swear, if this about another dress, I'm gonn-"

"Lin, I think you would like this store."

The metalbender turned to see what her friend was on about and she was not wrong. "Lingerie?"

"Yep. I've been meaning to have a special night with Hiroshi, I think this might get him in the mood."

"I'll help you pick something out Yasuko. I have a pretty good eye for what looks good on a woman. Lin, why don't you go get some food for the kids and yourself? We'll be there in a minute."

Lin was about to walk away when something crossed her mind. "Are you going to get something too?"

"No, I'm just going to look around."

"Oh, okay. Well don't be too long. We need to be at the air docks in a few hours."

"No problem."

Lin felt someone tugging at her pant leg, to see Asami looking up at her from her stroller. "What's up kid?"

"I had an accident."

"Well it's a great thing that your mother just bought you a whole lot of clothes."

* * *

They arrived at Zaofu late at night to see the domes make a rare opening just for them. "You have to admit Lin, your sister really knows how to make a city. It's a lot different to the paddocks a few years ago." When she didn't get a response, she looked down to see Lin asleep on their cabin's bed, with Kuvira cuddled up to her side. Kya let out a sigh and nudged her partner's shoulder gently.

"Huh, I'm up, I'm up."

"Yes, the drool running down your cheek speaks volumes of how awake you are." With the use of her bending, Kya managed to clean off Lin, and take their daughter into her arms without waking the toddler. "We're here. I've got Kuvira if you've got the bags."

"I can do that." Getting off the bed, Lin flexed her hands towards their bags and manipulated the metal to follow them down the ramp, where a tired Baatar Senior waited for them. "Baatar, it's good to see you again."

"Likewise. I'm sorry Su and your mother aren't here to meet you. But with Su being pregnant and mother being mother-"

"I bet she doesn't like you calling her that."

"-It's simply too late." Baatar finished, sidestepping Lin's comment. "We've set up a guest bedroom and put a cot in Junior's room for Kuvira." He led them into the rather warm and large house. "Your bedroom is just here. If you want, I can take Kuvira and put her in Junior's room."

Kya gave him a small smile in thanks. "It's alright. I'd hate to wake up my nephew. Kuvira can just spend the night with us."

With a nod of his head, Baatar Senior turned on his heel and walked back to his room where his pregnant life slept.

* * *

Kya laid in bed, her daughter curled up in her arms as her girlfriend snored softly. She watched as the domes slowly opened to reveal a rising sun and beautiful blue skies. She was preparing herself to go back to bed when their bedroom door creaked open and Su gingerly crept into the bedroom. "Hey Su."

"Hey Kya." Suyin whispered back as she neared the bed to take a seat. "I'm sorry I didn't welcome you tot the city. I was just so tired. This baby won't stop kicking so once she did, I tried to sleep as much as possible."

The waterbender carefully moved her daughter into the middle of the bed, so she could sit up and place a hand on the pregnant woman's stomach. "I think you have an earthbender on your hands. She's going to be a strong one. I can't wait to read her aura."

"I hope I have a dancer. I'd love to teach her how to do cartwheels. I love your hair by the way."

"Thanks you." Kya looked over her shoulder when she heard a particularly loud snore from her partner. "She's spent the last couple of months working overtime in an effort to make this vacation happen. She made it so we could stay longer if you need us. Kuvira missed her a lot."

"Mhm. For a woman that claims never to have wanted children, she has formed a strong bond with Kuvira rather quickly. I'm quite proud of the big softy."

"Same here." Kya leaned down and placed a kiss between Lin's shoulder blades, rubbing a few small circles on her back gently as she continued to sleep.

"Has Kuvira started talking yet?"

"Yeah, she said her first word yesterday."

"What was it?"

Kya frowned as she said the next word. "Chief."

"That was actually Lin's first word too according to mum." Su suppressed the urge to laugh as Kya's frown deepened. "Don't worry Kya, I'm sure she won't grow up calling Lin, Chief. Would you like to come have breakfast with us? We're still in our pyjamas so you don't need to worry about unpacking yet."

"I'd love to." Kya slowly got out of bed as to not wake her two girls and followed her girlfriend's sister out of the bedroom.

Once the door clicked shut, Lin rolled over and pulled her daughter close to her. "Pfft, big softie. They don't know what they're talking about." Lin attempted to go back to sleep, when a chubby hand hit her in the face. "And you're awake, which means I'm awake." She opened her eyes to see Kuvira looking up at her with those beautiful green eyes of hers. "Let's go get you fed baby girl."

Picking up Kuvira, the duo exited the bedroom and entered the dining room where breakfast was being served. "Morning Lin."

"Morning Su, Junior, Senior." The older metalbender put her daughter in the baby seat next to Kya, then gave her girlfriend a quick kiss on the lips.

"Mm, morning sweetie."

"Morning. Do you want to feed Kuvira or shall I?"

"I'll do it. You just take a seat next to Kuvira and eat."

Lin did as she was told and picked up the Republic City newspaper to read. "They finally settled on a story for how Kuvira came to be."

"Yeah?"

"Apparently she is actually mine and Tenzin's and you were our surrogate." Lin continued to read the paper, when a small fistful of porridge hit her in the face, followed by an all too familiar laugh. Her mother. "Shut up mum."

"No swearing in front of the kids."

Kuvira turned her head around as far as it would go and began waving her hands in excitement. "Chief, Chief, Chief!"

Kya and Lin looked at each other wide eyed. "Oooh."


	9. Chapter 8

**sorry it took so long to update, i apparently gained a life outside of fanfiction, which includes putting myself through sweaty workout sessions. anyway, i hope you guys like this. next chapter will include possible angst and a time skip. Read, review and enjoy**

* * *

Lin let out a loud laugh as she watched her daughter make little mountains in the grounds of Zaofu. At twenty months old, Kuvira's bending had far exceeded Lin's expectations and she was very grateful that her daughter had a large amount of talent.

The little girl clapped her hands together at seeing her father's excitement. "Da! Da! Da!"

"That's right baby girl, dad. Can you say dad?"

Kuvira chose to instead slap Lin in the face.

"Why does that always happen?"

"Because you don't do anything to stop it?"

Lin looked up to see her girlfriend walking towards her, hips swaying and a mischievous smirk on her face. "How is Suyin looking?"

"Well from what I could see, she looks like female genitalia."

Lin frowned at her girlfriend. "You know what I meant."

Kuvira stood up and waddled over to her mother, more than happy to sit in her lap and play with the large hand in front of her. "Well she's still pregnant. If the baby doesn't arrive in one week, I'm going to induce labour. She wasn't too happy when I told her. She actually punched Senior in the arm, and not a friendly Beifong jab either. I've never seen her face get so red." Kya looked around when she didn't see a certain boy playing near them. "Where is Junior?"

"Playing in the pond naked."

Looking past her girlfriend, Kya saw the little boy, in the nude, splashing in the shallow pond, trying to play with the turtle ducks. "And you didn't want to stop him why?"

"Kid needs to experience the outside world. Su and Senior are too worried about germs to let him play with mud but I think he needs it."

Kya put Kuvira down on the ground, before lying down next to her partner on her stomach, keeping a watchful eye on the naked boy now patting a turtleduck. "Hey Lin?"

"Mmm?"

"Where do you see us in a few years?"

"I see us where we are now, only living with a five year old instead of a twenty month old. She will be at school, learning new and brilliant things with Asami. You being an established doctor and I will hopefully have put a stop to all the triads. But that's just wishful thinking. What about you?"

Kya propped her chin up on her hand and smiled down at the metalbender. "I see all that, with one small difference. I want to be a paediatrician."

"What brought this on?"

"After spending time with Kuvira, I realised how much I love kids. Yasuko suggested I try something in the medical field where I can help sick kids. There is a bit of studying involved but after I complete the course, I can help children in orphanages and out on the streets."

"You have always wanted to help those who couldn't help themselves." Lin reached up and quickly pecked Kya on the lips. "I've got Kuvira if you've got Junior."

"Why do I have to get the naked baby?"

"He's in water, that's your domain. My kid's covered in dirt which is my thing."

Kya let out a grumble as she began to chase her naked 'nephew' around the estates grounds.

* * *

Lin sat up in bed, waiting patiently for her girlfriend to come out of the bathroom so that they could go to sleep. The door opened and the metalbender's eyes went wide with disbelief at seeing her beautiful girlfriend standing in the doorway, with legs spread, wearing edible lingerie. "Spirits, that is hot."

Kya's hips swayed tantalisingly slow as she made her way to the foot of the bed, where she proceeded to get onto the mattress and crawl her way up Lin's body, until she was straddling her waist and kissing her neck. "We haven't had sex in a month. I thought we could make it special."

A shudder passed through her body as her girlfriend's breath ghosted over her ear, pulling her earlobe into her mouth, nibbling on it gently. "K- Kya."

"Mm?"

"You forgot one thing."

The waterbender pulled back with a confused expression on her face, which was eradicated when she felt a hand take a hold of the hair tie and undo it, allowing the tousles of white hair to fall free. "Better?"

"Much." Lin threaded her hands through the hair, drawing her down to her lips, relaxing at their soft caress. She lifted her arms, allowing for her tank to be removed, leaving her clad in shorts and bindings. She was making the short journey to a lolly-covered breast, when the door opened to reveal an upset Su, causing the two lovers to break apart. "Su?!"

"Baatar Senior won't have sex with me!"

"The irony." Lin muttered under her breath.

Suyin walked over to the bed and took a seat next to Kya. "I told him that none of your suggestions to go into labour worked and the only one left was sex and he said no. Am I really that fat?"

The waterbender was taken aback, when the pregnant woman began crying into her barely covered chest. "Of course not Su. He is probably just worried he might hurt you."

"I don- you smell really nice. Is that edible lingerie?" She didn't wait for an answer, as she picked off a piece of the straps and ate it. "Thanks, I had a craving for something sweet." She continued to pick at the undergarment and talk about how uncomfortable she was in her position, until she felt hands slap her away. "What was that for?"

"Su, as much as I love seeing Kya naked, I doubt you will appreciate it as much as I would. Maybe leave something to cover herself with?"

"Oh, right. Sorry."

"It's fine Su, Lin is just bei-"

The waterbender was cut off by a drunk Toph Beifong, kicking in the door and holding a bottle of beer, drinking from it in between her singing. "For I'm a jolly good fellow! For I'm a jolly good fellow! For I'm a jolly good _fellow!_ That nobody can deny! Su! Your officer's can't hold their liquor to save their life." Toph made her way into the bedroom, and settled herself between her eldest daughter and her partner.

"Spirits, go away Chief, you smell like a liquor cabinet."

"Lin! You and I need to have a drinking contest one day. I miss the challenge Republic City cops could give me." Toph blew her bangs out of face, then sniffed the air. "Why do I smell lolly?"

"Kya's wearing candy lingerie." Suyin piped up. "Tastes pretty good if I say so myself."

Toph reached out, and grasped for some of the sweet, taking what was left of the bra into her hands, and eating it in one go, prompting Kya to cover herself with her hands. "And there goes my modesty."

"Please Kya, you're in a room with three women, one who is your girlfriend, another who is blind and it's not like I haven't seen breasts before. And I think that they look pretty damn fantastic."

"I- thank you."

Lin shook her head in disbelief as she reached over the side of the bed to grab her tank top and pass it to Kya. "If you two would be so kind as to leave myself and Kya alone, so that we may go to bed, that would be great." A snore ripped through the bedroom. Lin looked down at her passed out mother and groaned. "This is getting ridiculous."

"Oh shit."

"Yes Su, this is shit."

"No, that's not what I meant." Su reached between her legs, then lifted her hand to reveal blood.

Kya quickly got off the bed and rushed to the wardrobe to put on a pair of pants. "Lin, help me get Su to the nursery."

Looping an arm around her little sister's waist, the metalbender helped her to her feet. They took two steps, only to have Su stop and hold her stomach in pain. "No, no. It hurts too much. This is all happening too fast."

"Come on Su, I've got you. Only down the hall and then we will have you on the bed and giving birth in a matter of minutes."

The young matriarch took one step before falling to her knees. "I, I can't."

"Lin, just pick her up, but be gentle. Something is going wrong with the foetus and I need to check what's happening as soon as possible."

Lin grunted as she took her sister into her arms and followed her girlfriend into the medical room, which was set up just in case something like this happened. She put Su down on the bed and watched as Kya quickly moved around the room, preparing herself for surgery. "What are you doing? We need to call for help."

"By the time they get here, it could be too late. We have to do this now." Kya took one of the five syringes into her hands and began to inject them one by one into Su's pregnant stomach until she had no doubts the area was numb, then separated Su's view of what she was doing with a sheet. "Lin, I need you to get out of the room. Go wake Baatar Senior."

"No! Please don't go!"

Lin felt a tugging at her heart as she looked down at her sister to see panic and fear all over that usually happy face. "Everything is going to be okay Su. Kya won't let anything happen to you or the kid. I'll be right back with your husband."

Su watched her big sister leave, and felt her heart pick up in pace. "Kya, I ca-"

"You can Su. There is none of this 'I can't' business." Taking some water into her hands, Kya quietly placed it on Su's stomach and felt for the baby. "Alright, we need to get the baby out of there right now."

"Wh-why? Is she okay?"

"The cord is wrapped around her neck so she can't breathe."

"Oh Kya, she can't die. Please, do something!"

"I am. Just breathe and try to relax." Kya calmly lifted Su's nightgown, then picked up the scalpel and sliced from one side of the woman's pelvis to the other. She remained calm and collected as she cut through the flesh of her lover's sister. Finally opening the womb, Kya put the scalpel down and reached in, pulling the baby out and quickly removing the umbilical cord from around the baby's neck before cutting it.

The door opened at the sound of the newborn's cries. One look at his cut open wife and Baatar Senior collapsed at his sister in-law's feet. "Weak." Lin looked up when she heard the baby cry a gurgled cry, to see a bloodied baby in her girlfriend's arms.

"Lin, can you take him from me?"

"Him? Uh, yeah." Lin walked over Baatar and took her nephew into her arms. "He's so tiny, and kind of loud."

"Can I hold him?"

The metalbender walked over to the bedside and lowered the baby gently into her sister's arms. "He looks a little like Baatar?"

"It's okay Lin. He's beautiful, even if he doesn't resemble any of us, he's beautiful with a large personality." A tear slipped down the new mother's cheek as she ran a finger over the newborn's cheek. "Welcome to the family Huan Beifong."

"Huan? I thought you guys were expecting a girl. Didn't think you were prepared for a boy."

"We were, but we're not idiots. It is a fifty percent chance. Besides, I can still teach him how to dance."

"Alright," the two sisters looked up at the woman who just delivered the newborn, to see her borrowed tank covered in blood, matching her partner's torso, "Lin and I are going to clean up and allow you and Senior to get acquainted with Huan." Kya placed her hands on Lin's shoulders and steered her out of the room, making sure to step over the re-awakening man on the floor.

They reached their bedroom and an air of relief washed over them. "Wow, another Beifong. I can't believe Su already has two kids."

"Kya, if this conversation is going where I think it's goi-"

"No Lin. We aren't going there. I know what we agreed to. Just the one kid is enough for us."

The metalbender let out a sigh of relief and entered the bathroom to wash up, when she saw her mother with her head in the toilet, puking her guts out. "Never, drinking, again."

"Spirits, if your cops could see you now."

"Shut up."

Kya entered the bathroom and rolled her eyes at the scene before her. "I remember this same scene years ago, the only difference was that Lin was the one with her head in the toilet." The waterbender walked to the sink and gathered some water onto her hands and began washing it over Lin's bloodied body.

"So, what kinda grandkid do I have?"

"Very articulate Toph. You have a grandson, his name is Huan."

"Huh, Huan Beifong. Yeah, not bad, I mean, it's not Toph."

"Chief, just accept that it's not happening. Maybe your great grandkids."

"Fine. I'm going to go say hi to the kid, and hope that I don't throw up on the way." Toph exited the bedroom, granting the two lovers some peace.

"Spirits I'm starving."

Kya put her hand down her pants and yanked off what was left of the candy underwear. "You can eat this."

"Umm, I prefer my edible underwear fresh." Lin pushed herself off the sink and reached up behind her back, taking off her bindings.

"What are you doing?"

Lin shot her a smirk. "We still have a few minutes."

"I just preformed surgery, that's a bit or a mood killer for me. Sorry."

"No, no. It's fine. Come on, let's get dressed and go check on Huan and the kids."

Kya smiled and gave Lin a quick kiss on the temple. "Sounds like a plan."


	10. Chapter 9

**ugh, this is the first chapter in this series that i'm not too sure about but i know that my loyal reviewers will let me know their view on the chapter. the next one i'm hoping will be out next week but it will be harder for me to uploaded in the next couple months due to christmas and me working in retail. but i will not give up. next chapter will be so much better a promise and in the future there will be an M chapter which i know you will all enjoy. until then, read, review and enjoy**

* * *

The Beifong household was peaceful. Mum and dad were curled up in each other's embrace, enjoying their small amount of time together between working, raising a child and maintaining relationships with their ever-growing family.

Kuvira's eyes snapped open at the little bit of light flowing into her room. She quickly threw the blankets off her little body and ran into her parent's room, jumping on them until her dad had enough, grabbed her, and dragged her into their bed, before feigning sleep. " _Dad!_ Let me go! I have to get ready for school."

Kya rolled over and brushed her daughter's messy hair out of her face. "The sun is barely up, there's still a couple hours until we have to go to school badgermole."

"But I want to go now!"

"I think she's the first kid to ever say that sweetie."

Lin let out a grunt as she released her daughter and rolled over in a vain attempt to get some more sleep.

"Hey mum, what was your first day like?"

"Daunting. I was really excited like you are." A sleepy smirk graced Kya's lips as she retold the story of her first day at school. "Uncle Bumi told me how great school was and I saw it as a place big kids went to learn how to be a grown up but when my mother went in to drop me off, I freaked out. I started crying like a little baby and I wouldn't let go of her leg. My teacher had to pull me off of her. It wasn't until the class began that I made some friends and had some fun."

"I won't cry, I'm a big kid and dad says earthbenders are too stubborn to cry."

"Did she now? I could tell you some stories about your dad crying that would make you laugh."

Kuvira sat up on her knees and leaned over Lin's sleeping form, to begin poking her, hoping to get her attention. "Dad. Are you awake?"

"No. Now if you don't stop poking me, you won't get any ice-cream for dinner."

Not wanting that to happen, the young earthbender stopped. "What was your first day at school like?"

"My mother gave me ten Yuans and told me to learn something." Lin let out an _oomph_ when she felt her partner kick her in her bottom. "I mean, it was great, I made a couple of friends, learnt a lot of things and learned that ten yuans can get you really far, but not nearly as far as the accidental hundred yuans my mother gave me every now and then."

"Can I have lunch money?"

Kya leaned over and kissed Kuvira on the cheek. "Not while there is food in the ice box. You can go get dressed in your uniform if you want."

Kuvira jumped off the bed and quickly ran to her room, eager to start the day.

"Lin, I think we should get up."

"But I don't have work until ten. I rarely get a late start."

The waterbender gave her partner another kick, this time it was hard enough to knock her out of bed and onto the floor with a thud. "Spirits! Are you okay?"

"I think I winded myself."

* * *

"Why can't I just wear a green one?" Kuvira asked her mother, who was currently tying a green and blue sash around her waist.

"Because you're also from the South, even if you weren't born there you are seen as part of the Tribe. You should be happy I'm not making you wear yellow and orange with it too."

"But I'm from the Earth Kingdom."

Hearing the growl coming from her girlfriend's mouth, Lin kneeled down to her daughter's height and gave her a smile. "Badgermole, it doesn't matter where you come from, we're a family and that means I'm just as much Water Tribe, as I am Earth Nation. Loving someone means loving where they came from and you love your mother right?" She received a nod from the five year old. "Good, now grab your bag and lunch so we can get going."

When they stood up, Lin was surprised to get a hug from Kya, but she returned it none the less. "Thank you."

"Oh, you're welcome."

"So does this mean I can put your hair into some Southern styles?"

"Not happening."

The family got into Lin's police vehicle to begin their journey to Kuvira's new school. The little girl didn't sit still until they arrived at the large building, where she began to panic a little. "It's, uh, really big and there's a lot of kids."

"Don't worry sweetie, your dad and I will be here if you need anything." When they got out of the satomobile, Kya looked down to see her daughter clinging to her pants leg. "Everything is alright Kuvira, you'll be fine."

The two parents walked their daughter into the school, where a teacher with a clipboard stood directing the students to their new classrooms. She was young and awfully cheerful for someone welcoming snotty children and their high-strung parents on a Monday morning. "Hi, my name is miss Hirako and I will be the school's receptionist this year, can I please have your child's name?"

"Kuvira Beifong."

Miss Hirako looked up from her clipboard to gaze over the unusual family. "Right, well Kuvira will be in class one A with mister Asano. Enjoy your first day Kuvira."

The five year old just buried her face in Kya's leg, hoping it would help her escape to a safe place. "Come on badgermole, let's go see your classroom."

The Beifongs entered the school and were instantly met with curious gazes from other parents. "Lin, everyone is starring."

"Just ignore them." They entered a classroom and found Kuvira's desk in the middle of the class, with her name on the back of the little chair. "Alright kid, your mother and I have to go to work, but I will be here at the front gate waiting for you."

The young earthbender nodded her head as she took a seat, mentally trying to calm her nerves as she prepared herself for being alone for the day. "What about mum?"

Kya kneeled down and wrapped her daughter in a tight hug. "It's going to be okay. I have some late appointments but I should be home for dinner. Now give us our kisses."

Once she gave her parents a kiss on the cheek each, she finally realised that she truly was alone and didn't know anyone around her.

"Hello class and welcome to your first day at school. I am mister Asano and I look forward to learning everything about you, so let's go around the room and you can tell everyone something about yourself, beginning with your name. You might like to share your favourite food, if you're a bender, what you did for the holidays, what you want to learn this year, anything you like."

One by one, each child stood up and said their name. Kuvira's attention was instantly caught when the girl next to her stood up. "I am Kiki and I'm an earthbender, my dad is an officer and my mother sells houses. We went to Ember Island where I made a lot of friends and had a lot of fun."

Kuvira didn't know why, but she felt the need to compete with this girl. "My name is Kuvira and I'm an earthbender. My dad is the Chief of police, my mum is a doctor and I spent my holidays in my aunt and uncl-"

"The Chief is a girl! She can't be your dad. Dads are boys."

Kuvira looked to her left where Kiki was still standing, with her hands on her hips. "No they aren't."

"Yes they are!" All the kids began to call out in contradiction to Kuvira, making her feel small and stupid, as the teacher tried to calm them all down.

The young Beifong grabbed one of her exercise books to hide behind and began to chant to herself quietly. "My dad is Chief of police. My dad is Chief of police." She repeated this over and over again while chaos surrounded her.

* * *

"Spirits! Yasuko, you have to tell Lin."

"Shh, keep it down Kya."

The waterbender looked around the teashop to make sure no one was paying attention to them. "Sorry. Yasuko, your family is in danger. The triad won't stop at anything to make Hiroshi pay for protection. They will sabotage your company, hurt your workers, your family." Kya reached across the table and grasped the young woman's hand in her own tightly. "I've seen what the triads can do first hand. They tried to cut a deal with the police force when Toph was still in charge and it lead to a fight and the triad was disbanded."

"I don't know. Asami just started back at school and business is booming, I don't want to shed any negative light on Sato Industries."

"This isn't about your company, this is about you and your family. I know how Lin operates in these situations, especially with family friends. She will assign two of her top officers to be stationed outside your home. The triad wouldn't dare going against metalbending cops, they're too hard to defeat."

Yasuko let out a sigh. "Alright, call her."

"It's going to be okay Yasuko, we won't let anything happen to you."

"It's not me I'm worried about. It's Asami. If something happens to me, she won't have a female in her life for her to look up to. I worry that she will feel all alone."

"If something does happen to you, spirits forbid, Lin and I will make sure she will have someone to talk to. You're family in our eyes."

"Thank you Kya. That means a lot coming from you."

* * *

Lin was leaning against her patrol vehicle, thinking about her conversation with Yasuko before she had to pick up her daughter, when she felt something solid rest itself against her outer thigh. She looked down and cocked and eyebrow. "Kuvira? What's wrong?"

The young girl raised her head to reveal tear filled eyes. "Are you my dad?"

Lin's heart felt like it was breaking inside, she knew this would eventually happen but she didn't think it would happen so soon. She leaned down and pulled Kuvira into a tight hug. "Let's go home and practise some earthbending, then we can talk."

Kuvira nodded her head and climbed into the backseat.

Not wanting the ride to be an awkward one, the Chief of police decided to drum up a conversation. "I received a call from your aunt Su yesterday."

This peaked the young girl's curiosity, she always loved hearing things from her aunt. "What did she say?"

"She's coming to the city in a few days for a visit so we can finally meet Opal."

"Why didn't we go to Zaofu like with Huan?"

"Well we've been busy. Your mother has more clients and I have my hands full with the force. We couldn't afford to take the time off." They pulled up in their driveway and made their way into the house. "Go get dressed in your training gear and I'll meet you outside."

"Okay."

Lin made her way to the phone and began to dismantle her armour as it rang. " _Doctor Kya._ "

"Hey sexy."

" _Lin? Is everything set up at the Sato mansion?_ "

"Everything is taken care of." Lin was a little upset her partner didn't want to play her game, but knew there were more important matters to attend to. "I have a couple of officers out there right now, but that's not the reason why I called you."

" _What's wrong?_ "

"Kuvira." The metalbender let out a sigh as she worked off her boots. "She's asking me if I'm her dad."

" _So?_ "

"What do you mean so? What if she doesn't see me as her dad anymore?"

" _Lin, sweetie, you need to relax. Our daughter is a smart young girl, just tell her the truth and believe she can handle it. It can't possibly be that hard as when we told her she was adopted._ "

"I think she figured that one out on her own."

" _Don't be a weakling and tell her why you want to be called dad. I have to go. My four o'clock is here._ "

"Alright. I love you."

" _I love you too._ "

Lin made her way outside, where her daughter was beginning their usual warm ups of digging two of their fingers through packed sand. "I was thinking we could try spar-"

"Are you my dad?" Kuvira asked as she turned around to reveal tears flowing freely down her cheeks.

Lin felt a pang in her chest as she got down on her knees and pulled the young girl into her arms. "I am your father in every sense of the word. I love you like any father would love their daughter. I will protect you from everything that wants to hurt you and I will be there for whenever you need me. I may not be a man but that doesn't stop me from being the dad you need me to be. I love you so much and no conventional norm will stop me from doing that."

Kuvira finally returned the hug, burrowing her face into her father's shoulder. "But why don't I call you mum as well?"

Lin let out a sigh as she sat down, with her daughter in her lap. "When I grew up, I didn't have a father. I didn't know who he was because my mother believed she could be both my mum and dad. But that didn't stop me from wanting a real dad. I wanted a man in my life that would love me no matter what I did. However as I grew up, I realised that wasn't going to happen so I chose to be a father figure for Su so she wouldn't have to go through what I did. When Kya and I decided to adopt you, I was determined to be your father figure and I think I've done a pretty good job of that so far."

"You have, dad."

Lin smiled and kissed Kuvira on the forehead. "Come on, let's have some ice cream instead of training today."

Kuvira sniffled and a small smile graced her face. "Okay."

* * *

"Dad! Mum! Wake up!" It was later that night and Kuvira was frantically trying to wake up her parents.

Both the waterbender and earthbender sat up in bed, to see their daughter kneeling on before them with panic in her eyes. "Sweetie, what's wrong."

"Asami's house is on fire!"

Lin quickly jumped out of bed and looked out her window to see her neighbour's house surrounded by flames. "Spirits! Kuvira, stay here." Both adults quickly pulled on some clothes, Lin in her uniform and Kya in a tank top with baggy pants, and hastily exited their home to run over to the Sato mansion. "Kya, get the fire! I'm moving inside!" Lin bended a boulder through the window and jumped inside, to see a man standing over a frightened Asami, about to strike her but she wrapped one of her cables around his torso and sent him into the wall, knocking him out. "Asami, are you okay?"

The six year old sniffled as Lin looked her over to make sure she wasn't hurt. "My mum and dad are upstairs."

"Alright. Everything is going to be okay Asami but I need you to be brave for me." Lin opened up the ground. "Can you stay in there for a few minutes?"

"N-no. I can't!"

"Asami, if you want me to save your parents, I need to make sure you are safe." With a nod from the young girl, the Chief of police took her hand and lowered her into the hole. "I'll be right back."

"O-okay."

Closing off the hole, Lin sprinted upstairs, where smoke was coming from one of the bedrooms. She kicked open the door to find Hiroshi backed up on the bed, with a couple of firebenders controlling the energy around them and concentrating it into electricity. She moved the floor beneath them, to come up to their arms, then pull down until they were on their knees. "Hiroshi, where's Yasuko?"

"That bitch is dead, just like you're 'bout to be."

Lin growled and kicked the man in the head. "Shut up." She looked around for her friend and noticed the bathroom door open a crack and a bright light fluttering against the walls. "Oh spirits." She hesitantly pushed open the door to find the corpse of her dear friend on fire, her body barely recognisable. She dropped to her knees and emptied the contents of her stomach as the smell of burning flesh entered her sinuses.

"Yasuko."

Lin turned around to see Kya standing behind her. "Kya, she, uh, can you?"

She didn't need to say anymore as the waterbender doused the flames and grabbed a blanket from the bed, where Hiroshi still stood in shock, and covered her deceased friend's body. Sirens now filled the space around them. "Where's Asami?"

"She's downstairs. I hid her underground."

"Alright. I want you to go get her and take her outside, I'm going to take care of Hiroshi."

Lin slowly stood up and walked down the stairs, where she used her seismic sense to locate the six year old. She opened up the hole and helped Asami out. Keeping her close to her body, they made their way outside where a couple of ambulances, fire trucks and police vehicles were driving up the driveway.

"I want my mum."

"I know, but right now, you have to be strong."

Saikhan got out of his vehicle and quickly ran up to the Chief. "What's the status?"

"Three inside. They appear to be from the Agni Kai triad. Three civilians. Kya is bringing out Mister Sato but I need a recovery squad in the master bathroom. We also have two missing officers. I had officers Sung and Shu stationed outside but I haven't seen them."

"A little help?!"

Paramedics moved past the two officers to take Hiroshi from Kya, as multiple officers moved inside to secure the estate, while waterbenders made sure the fires were put out.

"Kya, could you take Asami from me while I make sure things move smoothly? Maybe take her to our pla-"

"Chief, we found the two triad members."

"Two?! There should be three!"

Everything began to move slowly for Lin as the sound of electricity prickled her ears like it had done many times before. Her eyes darted to a flash of blue coming from the tree line, but she was too slow to move. The last thing she heard was her name being shouted by the love of her life.


	11. Chapter 10

**okay, now that the probending comp is over, i can hopefully focus more of my time on this story, cause i want to bump it up to M in a couple of chapters because I think we all deserve some lovin. anyway, read, review and enjoy.**

* * *

One month. That was how long Lin Beifong had been in a coma. Most people say you aren't conscious during this time, but if the Chief of police were awake, she would tell you to shut the fuck up because you know diddly squat. In that one month, Lin had listened to her girlfriend cry by her side, nearly every day, begging her to wake up. Spirits she wanted to, but she wasn't ready.

"The doctors came to see me today. They want me to take you off life support so they can slice you up and give you away bit by bit. I was so choked up, mum was the one to chase them away." Kya let out a soft chuckle as she took a seat next to her partner and rested her head on the mattress. "It's been awhile since I saw mum so angry. Though I have good news, she said the spirit water she used on you has worked a fair bit but you will still have some scarring." The waterbender raised her right hand and laid it on the unconscious woman's chest, relaxing when she felt the familiar heart beat. "I want this Lin. I want you back in our bed. I can't sleep, I can't eat, I can't work, not without you by my side." Kya let out a sigh and allowed her eyes to close. "I love you."

Kya was well on her way to a good sleep, when someone walked up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder gently, jolting her awake. "It's okay, it's me."

Kya smiled lightly at the sight of Su standing in front of her. "Hey Su."

"Hey. I'm sorry for waking you."

The older woman raised her head and stretched. "No no, it's fine. What can I do for you?"

"Kuvira's school called your office. They asked if it was possible for you to come in."

"Of cour-"

Kya was interrupted by her mother entering the room, with sponges and a bucket of water. "I hope I'm not intruding but it's time for her bath."

Su looked into Kya's eyes to see them filled with misery. "Don't worry Kya, I'll go to Kuvira's school to see what the problem is. I'll see you back at your place later tonight." She gave her a quick, tight hug before leaving.

* * *

"Kuvira, I hope you realise that what you've done will come with grave consequences." The five year old continued to look down at the ground, while her principle continued to lecture her on the cons of violence towards a fellow student, while her enemy and her enemy's parents watched on.

Her eyes clenched shut when she heard the door open, knowing her mother would have a few choice words to say about the incident, but was surprised when the soft voice of her aunt flowed into her ears. "Sorry I'm late."

"And you are?"

"Suyin Beifong. One of Kuvira's guardians and her aunt." Su held out her hand to shake the principal's, but regretted the idea when she felt the greasy skin touch her own. "And who are you?"

"Mister Laiyu. Please, have a seat."

Instead of taking the chair next to her niece, she picked her up and sat her on her lap so she could wrap her arms tightly around the little girl's torso, providing a great deal of comfort she had been lacking in recent events. "Now what is this about?"

"Well missus Beifong, your niece was earthbending on school grounds and used it against Kiki. According to Kiki, she was playing with her friends when Kuvira earthbent a rock at her."

"It's not true." Kuvira muttered under her breath, though it didn't escape Su's hearing.

"I think you should speak up sweetie."

Kuvira let out a sigh. "It's not true. I was eating lunch alone like I usually do, when a rock hit me in the side of the head. Then another and another… and another. I tried to be tough like grandma Toph said, but the rocks got bigger and hurt more. That's when I defended myself. I stood up and Kiki was laughing at me with her friends. I pulled the ground beneath her feet and she fell. She started crying and I got in trouble."

"That's outrageous!" Kiki's father stood up so quickly, the chair nearly fell over. "My Kiki doesn't hurt people for fun!"

Su rolled her eyes at Kiki's mother. "I could say the same thing about my niece. Though I can say she doesn't lie."

Kiki's mother placed her bony hands on her hips as she turned in her seat. "And what makes you so sure?"

The metalbender put her hand gently to Kuvira's hair, and parted the side slightly where a hue of purple and a small amount of dried up blood laid underneath. "I don't think Kuvira did this to herself."

Kiki's parents had their mouths wide open in shock, at the revelation of what their daughter had done to a fellow pupil. "I, I don't know what to say."

"Maybe Principle Laiyu has an idea."

The short chubby man closed his mouth and cleared his throat with a cough. "I think it's appropriate that Kiki is suspended for a couple of weeks so she can reflect on her actions and perhaps write an apology letter to Kuvira. "

"I think that is a wonderful idea. In the meantime, I'm going to take Kuvira home, I think she's had enough for one day."

"Of course."

The two Beifong women stood up and exited the office hand in hand. "Aunt Su."

"Yes Kuvira?"

"Thank you."

"It's fine sweetie. Now let's get you home so I can get you cleaned up and make sure your grandmother hasn't set the place on fire."

Kuvira let out a soft chuckle for the first time in weeks, more than happy to have this joyful sensation back in her life. "Thanks aunt Su."

"You're welcome sweetie."

The drive home was peacefully quiet between the two, until they arrived home. "Umm, aunt Su, can you not tell Baatar Junior about what happened. I don't want him to know."

"Of course, now let's get you taken care of." They entered the home, where Suyin hoisted Kuvira up onto the kitchen counter, before getting the medical kit to begin cleaning up the small amount of blood on the side of her head. "Tell me if I'm hurting you."

"No, it doesn't hurt."

"I thought I felt you two walk in." Toph entered the kitchen, with a baby Opal in her arms.

"Hey grandma Toph."

"Hey kiddo. What's wrong with you?"

"I fell over."

Suyin put Kuvira back on the ground and kissed her on the temple. "Uncle Baatar Senior, and the boys are playing a board game in the living room, why don't you go join them."

"Okay."

Toph waited for Kuvira to leave the room, before handing the baby in her arms over to Suyin. "So, she forgot I know when people are lying. What actually happened?"

"It was just a small bullying situation. It's under control."

"It's not a small bullying situation." Toph's eyes narrowed in her daughter's general direction. "Kuvira would have defended herself if it was, but with everything going on, she's lost. She's drifting through life at the moment without her parents around her. She only sees Kya when Katara forces her to come home and she rarely sees Lin, because the sight of her in that hospital bed, scares the shit out of her. There's no denying that."

"What do you want me to do? I would love for Kya to be home with her daughter, fuck, I'd love for Lin to be out of her coma but no one gets what they want in this world."

"No, we don't get what we want, but we can make things easier on ourselves and those around us. I want you to use your power as Kuvira's guardian to get her out of that school. It's a waste of time, at this rate we should try to make this easier on Kuvira, try to grant her some form of happiness."

Su shook her head in disbelief that she was even thinking about this. "Alright. Alright. Fine. Say I do take her out of school, what then?"

"She can go back next year and repeat the grade, or you can tutor her with Junior."

"I don't think Lin and Kya will be too happy."

Toph scoffed at the notion as she turned and walked away. "They'll be too busy with rehab to concern themselves with her."

"I hope you're right."

* * *

"I'm not tired mum. Lin needs me, let me go back to the hospital."

"Kya, you're leaning heavily on me and your eyes are closed. You are going to bed. You can't help anyone if you are sleep deprived." Katara adjusted the woman slung over her shoulders, before helping her up the stairs. "I'm too old to be doing this and you're a lot heavier than when you were twelve."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I got fat and you got old."

Katara could glare daggers at her daughter if she didn't know the comments were made out of sleep deprivation. "It's okay." She opened the bedroom door and managed to throw her onto the bed, thankful that she didn't bounce off onto the floor. She removed Kya's boots and watched, slightly amused, as the young waterbender wiggled further up the bed. "I want you to get ten hours of sleep, no excuses." The faint sound of snoring was all the confirmation she received.

Kya was in a peaceful, deep sleep for the first time in a month, though it was to be interrupted by her daughter, who had just snuck into her bedroom, without so much as a sound.

Kuvira held her stuffed badgermole tightly as she padded up to the bed and hauled herself on top of it. She crawled over to her mother's side and poked her in the side gently. "Mum." There was no movement, so she tried again and received the same result. Giving up, the young girl got under the blankets and snuggled into her mother's side, with all intentions of getting some much needed rest, when the large body next to her rolled over and wrapped her up in a tight embrace. "Mum?"

"Mm, what are you doing in my bed badgermole?"

"I couldn't sleep."

"Bad dream?"

"No. I miss dad."

Kya tightened her arms around Kuvira and brought her closer to her chest. "I miss her too but she just needs a bit more time. How was school?" When she didn't get an answer, she shook her daughter's body lightly. "Sweetie?"

"I don't go to school anymore."

"That's nice."

"What?"

It took a moment for what she had said to register with Kya, but when it did, she was no longer tired. "You're what?!" She wasted no time getting out of bed and storming to the guest bedroom that homed the one person capable of taking her daughter from school.

Both Baatar Senior and Su bolted upright in bed, to see a fuming Kya standing in their doorway. "Ky-"

"You took her out of school!?"

"Baatar, I would love a cup of tea."

"Of course dear." Baatar Senior got out of bed and squeezed through the door, careful not to touch the angry woman before him.

"Now Kya, I did take Kuvira out of school-"

"Without my permission."

Su continued on with her reasoning, ignoring the interruption. "Because Kuvira was getting bullied and not performing well in school with Lin in the hospital. With you two indisposed, it only seemed like the logical choice."

"But it wasn't your choice to make."

Su narrowed her eyes as she got off the mattress and came to stand in front of Kya, toe to toe. "You weren't the one that cleaned the blood from her head, you weren't the one listening to her cry in her bedroom at night, you weren't there for her!"

Kya raised a clenched fist, but quickly dropped it when she heard her bedroom door open.

"Kuvira, could you come here please." The five year old slowly walked to her aunt's side, cautious of what was going to happen next. Su placed her hands gently on her niece's head and turned it to the side so Kya could see for herself the bruising and the cut that marred the dark skin. "I made the right call."

Kya bent down and took Kuvira into her arms and stormed off to the master bathroom, feeling defeated. She sat her daughter on the bathroom bench, before bending water from the faucet and placing it against the small wound. "Mum, are you angry at auntie Su?"

"No sweetie, my pride is a little bruised, that's all."

"Am I in trouble?"

"Of course not. Though it would have been nice if I knew a lot sooner about this."

"I'm sorry."

Kya let the water fall into the basin before leaning down to kiss Kuvira on the forehead. "You have nothing to be sorry about. I should be the one apologising. I've been so caught up with Lin in the hospital, that I haven't given you any of my attention. I promise that when your father wakes up, we'll go on a trip and spend some time together, does that sound good?"

"Yeah." Kuvira let out a yawn when Kya picked her up and carried her to the large bed. "I love you mum."

"I love you too. I think we should get some sleep before gran gran gets angry."

"Mm, yeah."

All was peaceful in the Beifong home once again.


	12. Chapter 11

**apologies, i had writers block and then i didn't like this chapter but i don't see any way of improving it and just guuh! next chapter will be so much better. only roughly 2-3 chapters before a time skip then i don't know from there. anyway, read, review and enjoy.**

* * *

 _It's time to wake up Lin. You've been asleep for a long time. Your family misses you. Open your eyes. That's it._

Lin's eyes were unfocused as they surveyed the room around her. It was still night, as evident by the stars and moon in the sky. The Chief of police sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed, though when she attempted to stand, her legs collapsed and she was sent careening to the floor, causing her heart monitor to skyrocket, and nurses to flood her room. There was a stabbing pain in her chest as her vision blurred and she found herself in the familiar arms of unconsciousness.

* * *

Kya had never run so fast in her life. It was three in the morning when she received the call that her girlfriend was awake but she didn't care, she got out of bed as soon as possible and drove to the hospital. As she neared Lin's hospital room, she could hear someone yelling inside. Thrusting the door open, Kya found Lin sitting up in bed, fighting off a team of nurses who were prodding her in an effort to conduct their unnecessary checks.

"Chief Beifong, please stay still."

"You are not my doctor, I-"

"No, I am." Everyone stopped what he or she was doing to stare at the waterbender in the doorway. "And as her doctor, I would appreciate it if you would all _leave_."

The nurses averted their gaze as they filed out of the room one by one.

Kya let out a relieved sigh as she allowed her smile to return and embrace the metalbender before her, though her smile disappeared when the hug wasn't returned. She pulled away and cupped Lin's cheek. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Lin narrowed her eyes as she looked up at her partner. "You mean other than finding out I've been in a coma for the last two months? Hmm let's see, two of my officers are most likely dead, my best friend was burned alive, too which I was a witness to. I was shot full of lightning, how I'm alive I have no idea, and to top it all off, I could have prevented it all! Fuck!" Lin's heart rate monitor was beeping quickly as she tried to calm herself down again.

"Lin, you did what you could." The waterbender grasped the officer's hand tightly. "You followed the correct procedures, but unfortunately it didn't go to plan, which means you now have to improve on the system so it doesn't happen again." Kya took a deep breath; she had no idea how to handle this situation and she wasn't sure if she was making it worse. "Your officers aren't dead by the way. They found them on the riverbank alive. Partial drowning but other than that, they're fine."

"Great, now there's only two things wrong." Lin let out a hiss and clenched her chest. "I spoke too soon."

"You're still in pain." A statement more than a question.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"We used spirit water. I thought when you eventually woke, you wouldn't be in any pain." Kya motioned to the water pouch at her hip and gently manoeuvred the water to Lin's chest.

"Spirit water huh? Must have been pretty bad." Lin's eyebrows narrowed when Kya didn't say anything. "How bad was it Kya?"

"You uh, flat lined. A few times actually. Scared the shit out of me."

"Was Kuvira there?"

"No. I had Tenzin collect her from the house. She stayed with him until we were sure you were in a stable condition. She's only been to see you a few times. She doesn't completely understand so she's a bit uncomfortable. Suyin and her family is in town by the way, along with Toph. My mother had to go back to the South, she said it was White Lotus business."

Lin gave a nod as she tried to sit up. "I need to go to the bathroom, can you help me?"

"Oh, they removed the cath-"

"Yes! Please, I don't think we need to talk about that."

Kya bent down, allowing Lin to wrap an arm around her shoulders and stand on weak legs. "You okay?"

"No, but I'll get better, I always do. I want you to see about getting me released. I need to go home and see our little girl."

"Lin, I-" Kya looked away when she received a glare from her partner. "I'll see what I can do. We put a set of clothes under the sink. Are you going to be okay in there?"

"Fine." They looked each other in the eye before going in their own directions.

Lin used the walls to help her stay standing as she made her way to the little cupboard under the sink. She was relieved to find her usual casual wear and not something formal. She slowly took off her gown, hissing in pain as she stretched her arms out, and now she stood in front of the bathroom mirror, completely naked and frowning at what she saw. Her muscles weren't as toned as they used to be, her skin was a sickly grey colour and the scar just below her sternum was a deep pink colour. "Fuck, no wonder why I can't stand on my own and to top it all off, I look like shit." She slowly got dressed before exiting the bathroom, to see Kya waiting for her, holding a pair of crutches. "I'm not using those."

"I can't help you get around every time you want something. And I got you an early release, _without_ any medical checks, it's the least you can do."

"Fine."

"Thank you."

* * *

"Kuvira! How much longer?!" Baatar Junior called out as he struggled to keep up with his younger cousin.

"Just near those trees!" A large grin graced Kuvira's face as she finally came to a halt and couldn't help but relish in the cool breeze that crossed the creek and into her tiny body.

Baatar finally made it and had to bend over to take in deep breaths. "Why, couldn't we, walk?" He finally stopped with the heavy panting to stand up straight with an awe struck gaze. "Wow, this is really nice. There's even a tiny waterfall."

"Yeah."

A moment of silence passed between them, making Baatar a tad uneasy. "So, why did you bring me here? If you wanted to talk, we could have stayed at the house."

"Because this is a special place and you're a special to me so I had to share it with you."

"Oh, thanks I guess."

Kuvira took his hand and sat down, bringing him with her. "This was mine and Asami's place. We used to play here all the time after I finished with training and Asami finished with etiquette classes."

"What ever happened to her, your friend?"

The young earthbender picked up a nearby pebble a tossed it into the creek. "I don't know exactly. I woke up to the smell of smoke and I looked out the window to see Asami's house on fire, everything else is kind of a blur –

 _"Kuvira, look at me." Kuvira begrudgingly looked up at her dad, while her mother quickly put on clothes. "I want you to stay here and hide. I don't want you to come out for anyone, do you understand?"_

 _The little girl nodded meekly before quickly running off to the laundry room, where she found a hiding space in one of the cupboards. She was shrouded in darkness as a faint scream was heard in the distance. It didn't sound as though it came from her parents, or at least she hoped. "Everything is alright. Mum and dad will keep me safe. They promised." A loud bang sounded, making Kuvira recoil and hold her knees tightly, trying to gain some form of comfort from the act._

 _It felt like hours had passed before a thump came from the front of the house. "Kuvira!"_

 _The voice sounded familiar but she couldn't be sure so she kept quiet._

" _Kuvira, please come out."_

 _She could hear the intruder's footsteps come closer, causing her heart rate to increase. She was breathing heavily when all of a sudden, the cupboard door opened to reveal a man in silver armour. "Kuvira?"_

" _Saikhan?"_

 _The strong officer had a pained grin on his face as he bent down and allowed Kuvira to wrap her tiny arms around his neck. "You're alright."_

 _The duo walked out to the backyard, where Tenzin was landing on Oogi. "Goodness, is she alright?"_

" _She's fine," Saikhan handed the young girl over to her uncle, rubbing her back gently as he did so, "though I suggest you call the hospital when you get a chance."_

" _What happened? Kya was in a rush when she called, I didn't get anything helpful from her."_

" _It's not my place to say. I have to go wrap up the crime scene."_

" _Alright, I have things from here. Thank you Saikhan."_

 _Lin's second in command gave him a nod before he walked away._

 _Tenzin looked down at the shaking mass in his arms, when he heard a whimper escape her. "Everything will be okay Kuvira, you can trust me." He felt her nod her head against his chest. He took it as an okay to move back to Oogi's saddle and then they were off, just like that._

"Just like that, and now my dad won't wake up, my friend's mum is dead, Asami and her dad has moved back into the city until their house is fixed and my mum is never home. I feel, alone."

Kuvira looked down when she felt a hand grip her own. "You'll never be alone."

"Kuvira! Junior!"

The two kids let go of each other's hands at the sound of their grandmother's voice. "Do you think we're in trouble?"

"I hope not." Kuvira quickly stood up and took off running, leaving Baatar to trail behind her.

* * *

"Wow Lin, you look, uh, good?"

Lin deadpanned at her sister's words, as she on tightly to the crutches in a desperate attempt to keep standing. "Gee, thanks Su."

The younger sister smiled as she embraced Lin gently. "It's good to see you awake."

"Thanks. It's good to be awake. Where's my kid? I can't wait to see h-" Lin didn't even finish her sentence when she heard little feet run into the lounge room and that beautiful face she had come to love over the past five years appeared before her. There was a moment where the two just stood still, looking at each other, when Kuvira took off running into Lin's legs, holding on as tightly as she could.

"Don't leave again."

* * *

"Kuvira's asleep. She didn't want to let me go, though I didn't really care." Lin let out a yawn as she hobbled over to the bed and quickly sat down and set the crutches aside. "So, it has been a couple of months since we, you kn-" The metalbender stopped talking when Kya rolled over in bed and presented her with a piece of meteor. "Kinky."

"Lin, I need you to bend this for me."

Lin's eyes narrowed as she used her bending to take the rock from her girlfriend, albeit with shaky hands while she tried to keep it in mid air. "Piece of cake."

"Alright." The waterbender resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow and make a sarcastic remark regarding the beads of sweat forming on Lin's face. "Make a diamond."

Lin grunted when she attempted the task, only to have the rock drop onto the bed. "Damnit."

"I knew this was going to happen."

"Nice to know I had your full support."

"That's not what I meant." Kya placed a hand on Lin's shoulder trying to gain her attention. "Lin, you were struck by _lightning_. Not everyone bounces back from something like that. You more than anyone knows this. The public hasn't been told that you are out of your coma and I think we should keep it that way until you're back to your full strength."

"Do you have something in mind?"

"I do but I think we should discuss it with Toph in the morning."

Lin gave her a nod as she laid down and attempted to pull Kya into an embrace. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, just, I just want to hold you for once."

The metalbender resisted the urge to laugh at the unusual request but rolled over none the less, allowing the waterbender to wrap her arms around her. "Kya, I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for not giving up on me."

"I will never give up on you. Thank you for saving me in the first place. I love you Lin."

"I love you too."

All was peaceful in the Beifong household once more.


End file.
